Originally posted by Paralytic
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Going from the professionals that advise on such matters, presumably with real life cases to back up their advice (though not sure if we've had any details of such cases from affected contractors on here, so from the horse's mouth), the evidence needs to be available during any investigation so you can prove you did due diligence on either making the determination yourself (as in private sector currently) or a record of what evidence a client had to make their determination (as in public sector, and private sector relating to next April if all that goes ahead as proposed).
So for situations where the client is making the determination ask for at least an email giving the reasoning behind the determination with perhaps a copy of the CEST printout if they used that tool. If making the determination yourself, use a reputable third party to make the determination where they will provide written confirmation and they'll often stand by it in the form of insurance against the cost of an investigation.
Hopefully the liability of incorrect determinations made by clients means the risk of the contractor having to pay up any tax demands is much lower than situations where the contractor had full responsibility in making sure the determination was accurate, but don't go betting that hearsay and other word on the street type feedback will be accurate and remain that way. It's relatively easy to protect yourself for existing/future contracts, less so for old contracts where that horse may have long since bolted with any chance of getting proof of determination on its back.
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