After 9-years of trying, HMRC have been told by the courts, yet again, that they were wrong to claim that Kaye Adams of Atholl House Productions Limited was caught by IR35 whilst working on engagements with the BBC. On November 29, 2023, after four hearings (three of which were upheld in favour of Ms Adams), … Read more
The Government has announced a new consultation on a ‘double taxation’ issue, which occurs when a client incorrectly determines a contractor’s IR35 status, and both the deemed employer and the contractor may end up paying the same tax twice. Since this article was written, the IR35 offset rule has been in effect since April 2024. … Read more
In the Autumn Statement, the government confirmed that it will legislate to fix the ‘IR35 Offset’ issue – to prevent cases of double taxation when HMRC successfully overturns an employment status decision. We asked an IR35 compliance expert to explain what this means in reality. Since this article was written, the IR35 offset rule has … Read more
We caught up with a leading IR35 expert after reports that HMRC has increased its compliance activity in recent months, with an apparent focus on how clients have been assessing IR35 status. We asked Seb Maley, CEO of Qdos, if he thought the taxman’s IR35 focus had changed – and what contractors and businesses should look … Read more
The tax yield from IR35 is set to reach £1.5bn per year – double the previous Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimate. IR35 tax receipts set to double On the 16th March, Lord Bridges of Headley, Chair of the Economic Affairs Committee made a statement while noting that the UK’s tax burden is to reach … Read more
Gary Lineker has successfully won his battle with HMRC over a £4.9 million tax bill. But what, if anything, does the ruling mean for contractors when, in the end, the usual IR35 employment status tests were never even considered? What happened in the Lineker vs HMRC case? HMRC claimed that income received by Gary Lineker … Read more
HMRC has been forced to abandon a three-year tax investigation into an engineering contractor’s tax affairs. The taxman pursued the worker for £100,000 despite the CEST employment status tool showing that the contracts fell outside IR35. Background to the case In November 2019, HMRC began an investigation into two contracts which the engineer had carried … Read more
The Government has confirmed that the planned repeal of the off-payroll working rules will not go ahead after all. Jeremy Hunt made the announcement on 17 October 2022, as part of a wider reversal of measures announced in the September mini-Budget. Just three weeks earlier, Kwasi Kwarteng said the 2017 and 2021 off-payroll reforms would … Read more
In his ‘mini Budget’, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced that the Off Payroll working rules will be abolished from April 2023. [Update: Oct 17th – Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has cancelled the Off Payroll repeal described below. So nothing changes! See more here] This means that the original IR35 rules will return from this date. The Growth … Read more
Just over a year since the introduction of the Off Payroll rules in the private sector, the Public Accounts Committee has released a damning report on the implementation. A new contractor survey backs up the findings. IR35 reform – a ‘rushed implementation’ Despite widespread warnings of the damage the rollout could cause, and implemented in … Read more