Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver the first Budget of the year on March 3rd. Given the fragile state of the economy, and the fact that the pandemic is far from over, there’s been some speculation that it might be delayed yet again.…
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The UK officially entered recession last week after two consecutive quarters of economic decline. With much focus on the ensuing jobs crisis as one in three firms plans to make redundancies by October, figures from the latest IPSE confidence index show that the contracting sector has also succumbed to a significant slump.…
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In light of reforms to the off-payroll rules coming into force in both the public and private sectors from April 2021, the end client will be obliged to provide the contractor with an official Status Determination Statement (SDS). The statement must confirm whether an engagement is inside or outside of IR35 and provide an explanation for this decision.…
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The Treasury have published their response to the House of Lords Finance Bill Sub-Committee’s report on Off-Payroll working. For many, the response will come as a disappointing yet unsurprising rehash of worn-out rhetoric. While some of the issues highlighted by the Lords are acknowledged with vague promises, the response offers no concrete solution on fundamental issues such as CEST, blanket ruling and worker’s rights.…
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IR35 reform is set to be extended to the private sector in 2021 after a tabled amendment to the 2019-21 Finance Bill failed to gain the support of the Labour Party. The amendment, tabled by conservative MP David Davis, proposed that the private sector rollout be postponed until the tax year 2023-24.…
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The House of Lords Finance Bill Sub-Committee’s report on Off-payroll working was published on Monday 27th April. Launched at the beginning of February, the Lords investigation took a wider line of inquiry than the Treasury’s official IR35 review. During many hearings, the committee heard damning evidence of the widespread damage that the reforms have caused, with committee members often expressing disbelief at the legislation’s inherent flaws and unfairness.…
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Many of the companies who adopted blanket IR35 policies that forced contractors out of their limited companies and onto the payroll are reversing their decisions. The U-turn came after news that the government would be delaying the reforms until April 2021 in order to help businesses and contractors cope with the impact of coronavirus.…
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Concerns were raised as HMRC published draft secondary legislation of the off-payroll rules for technical comment on 22 January. The release of the draft legislation has occurred before the completion of the government’s review of the IR35 rule changes. This has lead many to believe that the review won’t make any meaningful amends.…
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The government announced the official launch of its Off-Payroll Review on January 7th. The review follows the pre-election pledge made by Chancellor Javid in an interview with BBC’s Money Box on November 30th 2019. Although the announcement makes good on the government’s promise to address public concerns regarding this legislation, it has already received criticism from independent bodies representing the contracting sector.…
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Although the Conservatives were somewhat reluctant to join the other political parties in promising an IR35 review, their win will at least remove some of the uncertainty surrounding the off-payroll reforms for contractors in April next year. The landslide vote looks likely to bolster the party’s belief in its own policies, and with the new legislation ready to go, it’s unlikely that a review will bring about major changes.…
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