Pages in topic:   < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7] >
Coronavirus: the situation for UK-based sole traders
Thread poster: Tom in London
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:20
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Self-employed workers set to get 80% of wages under government emergency coronavirus package Mar 24, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/sealotw

Elizabeth Tamblin
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:20
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Useless "package" Mar 26, 2020

The UK government have now come up with what they call a "generous package" for the self-employed and the mainstream media have gone into propaganda overdrive and celebration - but it's getting very negative reactions on Twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/selfemployed?src=hashtag_click

Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:20
Spanish to English
+ ...
Twitter Mar 26, 2020

So many different comments. I'm not a tweeter myself, not used to the site. But that Ms. Waterman seems to be pretty clear on the subject.

[Edited at 2020-03-26 18:19 GMT]


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:20
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
hmm Mar 26, 2020

my wife and I are just doing the figures. So far it looks like I might just sneak under the £50k trading profits threshold, if averaged out over the last three tax years. I still have a couple of large jobs on my desk that I got before all this started, but haven't received a single job all week. we are certainly living in interesting times…


On a side note, has anyone else noticed Boris' new serious/grim face, she seems to be putting on as a mask every time someone points
... See more
my wife and I are just doing the figures. So far it looks like I might just sneak under the £50k trading profits threshold, if averaged out over the last three tax years. I still have a couple of large jobs on my desk that I got before all this started, but haven't received a single job all week. we are certainly living in interesting times…


On a side note, has anyone else noticed Boris' new serious/grim face, she seems to be putting on as a mask every time someone points the camera at him lately. Very odd, since I'm used to seeing him always laughing, smiling or smirking.

Michael
Collapse


Tom in London
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:20
Spanish to English
+ ...
Serious Boris Mar 26, 2020

It's called the Serious Statesman Look, Michael. The Cuddly Clown Look doesn't cut it these days.

Tom in London
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
What’s wrong with it? Mar 26, 2020

Michael Beijer wrote:
my wife and I are just doing the figures. So far it looks like I might just sneak under the £50k trading profits threshold, if averaged out over the last three tax years. I still have a couple of large jobs on my desk that I got before all this started, but haven't received a single job all week. we are certainly living in interesting times…


So you’ve made £150k in the past three years, you’ve still got work now, and you stand to get paid £2500 a month to watch Netflix if your work does dry up... Why then is your reaction to the package “hmm”? It seems generous to me🤷‍♂️

And Tom, why is it useless?

[Edited at 2020-03-26 20:08 GMT]


Joe France
Emily Gilby
Julia Burgess
Ron Willems
 
Brian Joyce
Brian Joyce  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Member (2022)
French to English
My thoughts Mar 26, 2020

What I would like to know is; if the exchequer is paying out, and the workers are not paying in, how are we going to pay for the NHS?

[Edited at 2020-03-26 20:11 GMT]


Angus Stewart
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Money trees Mar 26, 2020

Brian Joyce wrote:

What I would like to know is; if the exchequer is paying out, and the workers are not paying in, how are we going to pay for the NHS?

[Edited at 2020-03-26 20:11 GMT]

Well the government can borrow money or the Bank of England can print money. And most people are still working as far as I can tell...


 
Brian Joyce
Brian Joyce  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Member (2022)
French to English
Economic madness Mar 26, 2020

We did quantitive easing after the credit crunch, we got 10 years of austerity for it. Cannot wait to see the consequences for this latest crisis and the reaction to it. In 1957, in France 100 000 people died of Asian flu, the state didn't do a thing.

Tom in London
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Really? Mar 26, 2020

Brian Joyce wrote:

We did quantitive easing after the credit crunch, we got 10 years of austerity for it. Cannot wait to see the consequences for this latest crisis and the reaction to it. In 1957, in France 100 000 people died of Asian flu, the state didn't do a thing.


Not sure what you’re advocating here. Let the virus run its course, or let the unemployed starve? Either is pretty unpalatable.


 
Brian Joyce
Brian Joyce  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Member (2022)
French to English
cutting off the head to cure a headache Mar 26, 2020

We are all mobilized into the service of the NHS. I walk the deserted city streets and think, how is this helping save the NHS? The world has become a desert.
Authorities are already saying that chance are you have already been infected, continuing in this way will burden the NHS and society with even greater troubles in the coming weeks.


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:20
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
I said ‘hmm’ because … Mar 26, 2020

Chris S wrote:

Michael Beijer wrote:
my wife and I are just doing the figures. So far it looks like I might just sneak under the £50k trading profits threshold, if averaged out over the last three tax years. I still have a couple of large jobs on my desk that I got before all this started, but haven't received a single job all week. we are certainly living in interesting times…


So you’ve made £150k in the past three years, you’ve still got work now, and you stand to get paid £2500 a month to watch Netflix if your work does dry up... Why then is your reaction to the package “hmm”? It seems generous to me🤷‍♂️

And Tom, why is it useless?

[Edited at 2020-03-26 20:08 GMT]


...my wife hasn't fully gotten back to work since we had our daughter a few years ago so I'm pretty much the sole breadwinner at the moment. My mother (who ticks all the boxes re risk factors) is currently also in the hospital in Barcelona (with the virus), so I may have to start helping her out financially.

The current scheme is said to provide a maximum of £2,500/month. That's £625/week. However, I usually try to earn around £1,000/week (£4000/month), after tax (I always set aside around 30%), which keeps us more or less afloat. This is with zero savings, overdrafts being used, etc. Yes, we're not great with money.

Also, the money will only be available in June, but it's now March. Luckily, we can borrow from my wife's family, so we're lucky, but not everyone has this luxury. Ideally, they'd distribute the cash immediately.


Christopher Schröder
Tom in London
 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:20
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
??? Mar 26, 2020

Brian Joyce wrote:

We are all mobilized into the service of the NHS. I walk the deserted city streets and think, how is this helping save the NHS? The world has become a desert.
Authorities are already saying that chance are you have already been infected, continuing in this way will burden the NHS and society with even greater troubles in the coming weeks.


The whole point of staying indoors / away from people is to reduce the number of infections (or, rather, the rate at which new cases occur), so the NHS can handle those that do get infected at a slower and (hopefully!) more manageable rate. Unlike in Italy and Spain.



[Edited at 2020-03-26 22:12 GMT]


Julia Burgess
 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:20
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
re economic madness Mar 26, 2020

Brian Joyce wrote:

We did quantitive easing after the credit crunch, we got 10 years of austerity for it. Cannot wait to see the consequences for this latest crisis and the reaction to it. In 1957, in France 100 000 people died of Asian flu, the state didn't do a thing.


Economic madness, if you ask me, is what the Tories have done to the UK over the past however many years they have been in power. They destroy the NHS and cut public services right and left, and when something like this virus comes knocking, and society threatens to fall apart, they wonder why the system is unable to cope. Duh, because you dismantled most of it while pretending a country is a company. Hell, even a company run this way suffers in the end. The United Kingdom isn't Amazon, it's the UK. You don't measure a country's performance by how rich its shareholders get but by how happy/healthy/safe its citizens are. Money is a means, not an end.


Maisie Musgrave
Jan Truper
Tom in London
Emily Gilby
Michele Fauble
 
Brian Joyce
Brian Joyce  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Member (2022)
French to English
Unhealthy economy, unhealthy people Mar 26, 2020

Economic strife is the root cause of most of societies ills; unemployment, depression, addiction, family breakdown, etc etc. Jim Harra First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive – HMRC, promises to do what he can for us all, but fighting the fire of the virus by throwing some of societies workers on it, errrmmm, not a good idea.
I cannot help repeating, we don't see what it's going to cost us yet.


 
Pages in topic:   < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7] >


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Lucia Leszinsky[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Coronavirus: the situation for UK-based sole traders






Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »
TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »