This week's opinion: 7 October 2021

I can’t let the end of the furlough scheme pass without comment. It is hard to remember that not that long ago we were all puzzled by the expression. Looking back I find the earliest mention in my email was on 21 March 2020, when a colleague and I were discussing the significance of the term and wondering whether it signified a new form of employment status. At the time we were all working on the assumption that this would be a short-term measure expiring in May 2020. Had we known then that it would continue until September 2021 I have no idea how we would have reacted, so it is probably just as well that we thought it would be a short-term hiccup. 

There will be many lessons to take from the scheme: here are two. The first is the undoubted success of HMRC in getting this and the other support schemes up and running quickly with remarkably few glitches. That experience has clearly given HMRC renewed confidence to tackle other major projects (though as I discuss in 'Pause for thought', there is still a long way to go). 

The second is the way that some people, largely those with personal companies with a history of paying dividends rather than salary, fell between the cracks. There are contrasting views about whether this was justified on policy grounds, but it did emphasise again how fractured the tax system has become for (using the term broadly) the contractor population. 

Fresh thinking about this important sector of the economy has been long promised: the furlough experience makes it essential that the issue is tackled. This month’s Budget would be an ideal platform for announcements.