The fallout from the Post Office’s £104m IR35 liability has taken a new turn, with contractors potentially owed millions in tax after it emerged that HMRC will not offset tax already paid. HMRC will not apply an IR35 offset to the £104m tax bill, meaning that tax already paid by contractors will not be taken … Read more
Rupert Lowe, the independent MP for Great Yarmouth and former Reform UK member, launched Restore Britain as a full national political party last week. One of the new party’s key tax pledges is a strong commitment to scrapping IR35 entirely. According to the party’s official taxation and economy page, it pledges to abolish IR35, calling … Read more
The Post Office is set to receive more than £104m in government funding to settle a historic tax bill linked to non-compliance with the off-payroll working rules. Newly published government documents confirm that Post Office Limited has been assessed by HMRC to have a £104,441,881 liability following a review of how contractors and freelancers were … Read more
IR35 remains the main concern for the UK’s contractor workforce – even more so than tax rises – according to new data from a leading tax consultancy. Research published this week by IR35 specialist Qdos suggests that uncertainty around employment status and the scarcity of outside-IR35 contract work continue to undermine independent contractors’ confidence. The … Read more
The government’s planned consultation on employment status, intended to address uncertainty around employment and self-employment, has been delayed until 2026. The consultation was expected by the end of 2025 but is now scheduled for publication “as soon as possible” next year. The delay, reported by the New Statesman, is linked to the extended parliamentary process … Read more
Nigel Farage has lowered expectations that Reform UK would make sweeping tax cuts if it forms a government in the future. However, the potential repeal of IR35 is still being held out as one of his party’s headline policies aimed at small business people. In an interview reported by PoliticsHome, Farage accepted that his party … Read more
A Welsh government-sponsored body has confirmed it will pay more than £14.6m to HMRC after a long investigation into how it handled off-payroll contractors. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said the liability covers engagements going back to 2017, the year the public sector became responsible for deciding whether contractors fall inside IR35. NRW said it had … Read more
The Conservative Party has signalled that it would revisit the IR35 off-payroll working rules if it wins the next general election. The commitment was made by Shadow Business Secretary, Andrew Griffith, during his speech at the Conservative Party Conference, where he said the party wanted to “do better for the self-employed” and support “a new … Read more
Recently enacted changes to company size thresholds mean that many ‘small company’ clients will not see a reprieve from their off-payroll obligations until the 2027/28 tax year at the earliest. Two of the three thresholds outlined in the Companies Act have increased from April 2025, applying to financial years beginning on or after that date. … Read more
A leading IR35 specialist says the recently implemented hike in Employers’ National Insurance (NI) contributions is expected to place the greatest financial strain on companies that opted to ban the use of limited company contractors due to the off-payroll rules. Qdos says the hike should serve as a wake-up call for organisations to reconsider their … Read more