National Freelancers Day: What Is It And Why Is It Important?

National Freelancers Day (NFD) occurs on 28^th June 2018, and celebrates the UK’s two million independent professionals. Now in its fifth year, more and more are joining in with the celebrations, with events being held in London, Bristol and Leeds.

Freelancers are an incredibly valuable addition to the British economy. Join us as we demonstrate the importance of the self-employed, as well as give an overview of National Freelancers Day.

The rise of the freelancer

The freelancer sector has drastically increased over the last decade, having grown by 46% since 2008. Their value is clear – they contributed £271 billion to the UK economy in 2017, which is enough to fund the NHS twice over.

Of the two million freelancers in the UK, 1.77 million cite it as their main profession, with the remaining amount undertaking freelance work as a second job – even those who are more traditionally employed are reaping the benefits.

Despite Brexit uncertainty, the freelance economy only looks set to grow. SimpleTax has seen this first hand: Self Assessment tax returns completed using our cloud software increased by 60% in the 2015/2016 tax year, and again by 83% the following year.

What’s on at National Freelancers Day

The main events for NFD are happening at the central London event. This will consist of a co-working environment, freelancer showcase and policy session, as well as the ceremony for the IPSE Awards 2018.

There will also be keynote speeches, seminars, panel discussions and workshops. These sessions will revolve around the importance of health and wellbeing, the impact of digital on freelancer work, tips for winning clients, and advice on the financial aspect of freelancing.

Whether you’re newly self-employed or have a few years’ experience behind you, the financial sessions will give the opportunity to ask questions about managing, planning and investing money – a valuable resource if finances don’t come second nature to you. Thankfully, with the tax side of freelancing, they don’t have to.

How SimpleTax can help

We wanted to provide a way for the self-employed to do their tax returns easily, without the need for an accountant. Our SimpleTax software has been designed with ease of use in mind, so your accounts can be completed quickly and simply.

If you’re a freelancer working through a limited company, SimpleTax can help you file your personal Self Assessment tax return to HMRC. For those that are operating as sole traders, the cloud-based software can help submit your accounts to HMRC, streamlining the process and providing helpful hints and tips as to possible tax savings along the way.

We know you may be frequently on the go as a freelancer, so the app allows you to sort out your finances from anywhere. Even your Self Assessment tax return can be submitted from your smartphone.

SimpleTax do the hard work so you don’t have to. Whether you’re a freelancer that’s just setting up, one of the 241,000 who work freelance as a second job, or you’re fully established, we’ll save you the expense of an accountant. You can try a free 14-day trial today or, if you have any questions, contact us and a member of our team will be delighted to help.

Blog content is for information purposes and over time may become outdated, although we do strive to keep it current. It's written to help you understand your Tax's and is not to be relied upon as professional accounting, tax and legal advice due to differences in everyone's circumstances. For additional help please contact our support team or HMRC.