To point out IR35 is a major factor in the lack of HGV drivers

[mikedyson]

As this well researched (for once) article in the i points out =

inews.co.uk/news/hgv-driver-shortage-tax-change-ir35-lorry-crisis-uk-europe-1239313?ito=email_share_article-top

I’ve said this before but top whack for HGV drivers is 12.50 where I am, awful hours, crappy conditions sleeping in the truck etc. They need to pay better money. Obviously don’t want to increase wages for existing staff so offering 1-3k joining/retention bonus.

@jgw1 Why do employers not want permanent staff?

One aspect is the same reason that supply teachers, locum doctors, and agency nurses exist. It's to cover staff absences, peak demand, and particular short term projects. Not to mention where the "permanent" jobs simply aren't popular and never get many applications, or where there are seasonalities.

We've come a long way from the old days when everyone worked fixed regular hours in "jobs for life". Nowadays, huge swathes of the employment market are flexible.

Unfortunately, the tax rules aren't keeping up with the modern working life, hence stupid damaging rules like IR35 which arose in 2000 because of stupid damaging employment rules in the 90s, and so it goes on.

Of course, not helped by Gordon Brown encouraging people to set up limited companies with all the tax breaks he created in the early noughties which only applied to limited companies, so caused huge numbers of sole trader window cleaners, electricians, dog walkers, etc to convert to limited companies!

Employers don’t want permanent staff for a variety of perfectly valid reasons.
Like many others I was happy taking the risks and paying for my own sick time, pension etc. Companies paid me to do a single project that took less than a year using my knowledge. My services were expensive compared with an employee but cheaper than having it done wrong.
There is almost no chance they could pay an attractive salary for the work but paying for the services they need could be justified.
The real roots of the issue lie in the overly complex tax system and company incorporation regime.

@takenforgrantednana

Thanks for the detail on CPC.

Dunno why they haven’t scrapped it though as it was an EU requirement. No-one I know who has done it seems to think it’s actually useful - mostly common sense of stuff you’d already know.

Of course for a driver running his own limited company, at least some of those costs would be legit business expenses - something else that’s been abolished overnight by the risk-averse response of companies to the IR35 changes.

@user1497207191

At the end of the day, HMRC needs to sort out the tax system as it's not fit for purpose. It's crazy that someone self employed as a sole trader has a different set of tax rules (relieves, rates, etc) compared to an identical self employed person operating as a limited company doing the exact same work. Yet, as each government comes and goes, as each Treasury minister comes and goes, they make it worse, not better with their continual faffing around the edges rather than actually addressing the inherent issues.

^100% agree

We've come a long way from the old days when everyone worked fixed regular hours in "jobs for life". Nowadays, huge swathes of the employment market are flexible.
Oh yes. I personally wouldn't mind paying higher tax overall, but in a more flexible and fair system, that would recognise that employment can be both precarious and lucrative at the same time. And there's absolutely no reason why it cannot be done, apart from the political will.

It’s mainly inertia from HMRC - simplified tax would hurt them (and their lawyers) the most.

yeah for the likes of me most of it seem to be about teaching me how to suck eggs! 35 hrs worth of doing it on the initial course!

so once gain i need the cpc to gain amployment, but i cant get employment without having the cpc first! im not the only driver in that situation, plenty of us around and way back in 1995 when i first started driving them there was 50,000 drivers short back then and nothing has ever changed, its just a dangerous job, one you can be attacked while sleeping, or severly injured while doing it

@mikedyson

It’s mainly inertia from HMRC - simplified tax would hurt them (and their lawyers) the most.

And bias. These days, HMRC seem to have an "agenda" against some groups of people. Just look at the covid support schemes were certain groups were unfairly excluded on the flimsiest of reasons/excuses.

The next fiasco made by HMRC is making tax digital for income tax, where all but the tiniest of landlords, sole traders etc will have to use software for their book-keeping and submit quarterly returns on top of the yearly returns. HMRC havn't been able to come up with any logical reasoning for this and, again, are coming up with flimy "reasons" why it's apparently necessary and beneficial, none of which hold water. Just another "agenda" where they won't reveal the true reasons.