IR35

Essentially, the IR35 rules will affect all contractors who do not meet the Inland Revenue's definition of 'self employment'.
MBF’s IR35 win confirms there’s sense in being truly dispensable as a contractor.
Experts tell CUK how the taxman decides who to investigate under IR35.
What contractors can expect from an IR35 investigation: now and in the future.
And how other IT contractors might avoid the same traps.
Introduction to factors determining your employment status and what IR35 will cost you.
IR35 Features
For more on the IR35 review carried out by the Office of Tax Simplification see our dedicated IR35 review section.
Contractors aren’t the only party interested in a confirmatory letter, but they’re the likeliest – Accountax.
Not worth the paper it’s printed on if your IR35 review ignores the working reality - Bauer & Cottrell.
Why it’s even more stupid than before for IT contractors to falsely frame their engagement.
Upper and lower contracts mustn’t be at odds in case a tax inspector calls.
If the reality is different, then the written terms will be disregarded – Brookson.
‘IR35 win shows the sense in jotting down what makes you a contractor and not an employee.’
Contractor tax experts fear a new approach to IR35 won’t end old habits at HMRC.
For being more than mere opinion, HMRC’s wordy model for new IR35 policy is being welcomed.
A fresh approach by HMRC, or the starting pistol for a slew of new IR35 investigations? Both, writes Kate Cottrell.
Customer segmentation model is best, says HMRC, yet it’s not without its challenges.
HMRC: New IR35 policy should focus on potentially caught contractor businesses.
Limited company contractors under no obligation to tell HMRC if they’re a service company, says Accountax.
First in a CUK download series of 2-minute guides, by experts for IT contractors.
Why an expected consultation on IR35 looks like only the beginning of a difficult end.
Part 2 of 2: The case for keeping IR35, by Seb Maley of Qdos Consulting.
Part 1 of 2: The case for killing IR35, by Seb Maley of Qdos Consulting.
HMRC has won all 4 High Court battles, and says it's no longer only about the money.
A growing number of IR35 cases rest on the reduced clout of right of substitution.
Dragonfly's defeat puts the onus on agents and clients to help contractors comply with the IR35 rules.
Legal expert: no notice may sound nasty but it helps against IR35.
IR35 Advice
Expert helps a long-serving contractor pinning his hopes on being ‘left to get on with it.’
What IT contractors can do to help avoid being the next JLJ Services Ltd.
The Law Place offers guidance to a contractor worried a lack of substitution means the contract is automatically IR35-caught.
Avoiding IR35 entirely is possible, but has no guarantee and may be lethal.
Revenue’s IR35 reach extends to every contract you had over the last six years.
Expert helps an IR35-caught contractor stuck on the service company questions.
IR35 advice for an IT consultant on the cusp of a 'Friday to Monday' scenario.
Contractors shouldn’t accept permie-sounding job titles on their client email signature.
IR35 advice for an IT contractor saving for when a tax inspector calls.
IR35 expert helps an IT contractor wanting to avoid a risky tax position.
Expert lets down a self-employed web designer hoping for immunity from the IR35 rules.
Compliance experts Qdos on what the spawn of IR35 might look like.
IR35 expert helps an IT contractor bound to 'other duties required by the client.'
Ex-tax inspector advises an IT contractor anxious about employment status.
Legal aid for a 'Ltd' contractor hoping to duck the IR35 rules by becoming an employer.
Tax advice for a UK 'Ltd' contractor worried about employment status abroad.
IR35 expert helps a budding contractor with 'Friday to Monday' intentions.
Arguing against control is easier with your own kit, says IR35 expert.
IR35 expert helps an IT contractor facing a 'bums on seats' request from his client.
Legal aid for an IT consultancy employee eyeing work as one of their contractors.
The long tail of IR35 can catch contractors who close one 'Ltd' and start another.
IR35-contractor wants the least taxing way to make pension contributions.
Even direct contractors need an unfettered right to substitute, says IR35 advisor.
One IT contractor worries about the IR35 implications of a 'pre-employment' form.
Expert's take on whether dissolving your 'Ltd' will put you on the Revenue's radar.
Expert: don't waste time on getting the answer you'd prefer.
Expert clears up claims that default agency contracts can't be redrawn over IR35.
IR35 News
So much to do, in such little time, sees HMRC cancel today's IR35 meeting.
Unprecedented ruling puts contractors who break from specific projects in the dock.
Only four months to go until the Revenue readies IR35's successor.
HMRC honed its IR35 clampdown, putting in a lot less but collecting much more.
Industry experts set to debate the IR35 status of 12 HMRC-fed scenarios.
IR35 (Intermediaries) Legislation – further reading
IR35, also known as the Intermediaries Legislation, was introduced in April 2000. This complex piece was tax legislation was first proposed in the previous year's Budget, via a press release numbered IR35 with its purpose being to 'counter avoidance in the area of personal service provision'.
The legislation affects contractors and freelancers working for a hirer and looks to see if the relationship for the contract duration (or 'relevant engagement') is actually one of employment.
More specifically, the aim of IR35 is to prevent those working through an intermediary, such as a 'personal service company', or one person limited company, from avoiding the higher levels of tax and NICs that they would paying if, were it not for the intermediary, the relationship with the end client would be one of employment.
Prior to IR35, contractors falling foul of the IR35 rules could avoid being taxed as an employee by providing services in this way. Working through a limited company, a worker can decide how much salary to draw from the company (on which PAYE and employees' NICs are deducted) and how much to pay him or herself in dividends (which are derived from shareholding rather than employment and therefore do not attract PAYE or NICs).
HMRC were particularly concerned that a worker could "leave work as an employee on a Friday only to return the following Monday to do exactly the same job as an indirectly engaged 'consultant' paying substantially reduced tax and national insurance."
IR35 therefore was put in place to ensure that where an engagement is one of 'disguised employment', that the individual pays what HMRC cite as "broadly tax and NICs on a basis which is fair in relation to what an employee of the client would pay."
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