When IR35 was first announced in 1999, contractors and freelancers had no idea about the massive impact it was to have on their livelihoods. Until, that is, ContractorCalculator founder and CEO Dave Chaplin – who is also a mathematician and at that time was an IT contractor – wrote and published online the first ever interactive IR35 tax calculator.
As a result of Dave’s pioneering work, when the shocking truth emerged about the financial impact of IR35 on contractor earnings, the contracting and freelancing sector was never to be the same again.
And while still working as an IT contractor for blue chip clients in London’s financial district, Dave built this contractors’ and freelancers’ portal, including high quality contracting news and in-depth contracting guides, around a range of online financial calculators that became ContractorCalculator.
“After building the first online calculator, I realised that contractors, like me, needed an independent resource to help them navigate increasingly complex contractor tax laws,” explains Dave. “So I set out to provide expert yet accessible guides and commentary for all contractors and freelancers, both newcomers and veterans.”
Dave’s passion for ensuring that today’s contractors and freelancers are equipped to flourish prompted him to write the contracting sector’s definitive guide – The Contractors’ Handbook: the expert guide for UK contractors and freelancers .
As ContractorCalculator has become the place for contractors and freelancers to visit, for its online calculators, incisive news and opinion and in-depth guides, so its value as an advertising property has increased.
“ContractorCalculator targets and brings together in one place a disparate group of highly skilled, high-earning and flexible knowledge workers,” continues Dave. “In many cases they only have the ‘contractor’, ‘freelancer’, ‘interim’ or ‘consultant’ badge in common, yet they still need access to a similar range of products, services and professional support.”
By 2004 Dave was working full time on the website and has since created a team comprising business and financial journalists, marketers and web designers, all experienced and highly qualified contractors and freelancers. These ongoing developments mean the site is produced by contractors for contractors, earning ContractorCalculator ‘Your Expert Guide to Contracting’ designation.
Contractor Calculator, the UK’s authority on contracting serves a readership of over 100,000 visitors per month [See our traffic reports] made up of contractors from IT, telecoms, engineering, oil, gas, energy, and other sectors. Online since 1999, we publish thousands of articles, guides, analysis and expert commentary together with our financial tools and tax calculators