Use of client's equipment ie laptop

[achillea]

My soon-to-be client has told me today that he has organised for me to have a desk (next to him) and a laptop for use on a 9 month assignment. I stated that I'd rather use my own laptop but was told that the company one would be needed to access the network, company email etc.

Obviously this is an IR35 No-No... if I have to use this equipment, is there anyway I could argue to HMRC that it was essential for working on the client site (ie company does not allow contractors to use their own equipment due to security risk.. but I used my own laptop for this project when working offsite etc...)? Has anyone ever argued this case successfully?

cheers

[Ardesco]

You will very rarely find a large company that lets you put your own IT equipment into thier network The sys admin will normally have a fit at the mere suggestion.

[MrsGoof]

nowt to do with IR35. It is perfectly sensible that they do this. Have you ever considered security ?

now run along and drop a cup of tea all over it

[malvolio]

It has no effect on your IR35 status. It is fully accepted that clients may require the use of specific equipment to access their systems, in the same way that they may not allow home working or remote access. While being able to use your own kit is a minor pointer away from IR35, not being able to does not point the other way.

[achillea]

Fantastic feedback - that's put my mind at rest!

cheers

[timh]

In that situation I work on my laptop and use the client kit only when I have to (email, network, etc).

One could possibly make a sneaky network bridge with ad-hoc wifi or bluetooth, if one was willing to overlook the rules slightly and depending on network - haven't tried it myself though.

[stonecircle]

Has anyone tried P2Ving a client laptop, and running the VM on their own one? On the face, seems a way of ticking an IR35 box while allowing access to client systems.

[northernladuk]

Why does it put a tick in the IR35 box ???

[malvolio]

Has anyone tried P2Ving a client laptop, and running the VM on their own one? On the face, seems a way of ticking an IR35 box while allowing access to client systems.

Seems a good way to get walked off site very quickly, if that's the aim. So a feeble IR35 defence at best but not much use for earnings or the next contract.

What does the client system usage policy say; you know, that text you always ignore when you log on...?

[stek]

Has anyone tried P2Ving a client laptop, and running the VM on their own one? On the face, seems a way of ticking an IR35 box while allowing access to client systems.

I did that at one place, then I saw the HW/SW scan report that they do on all their kit, instead of saying 'HP 6400NC' in the machine type it said 'VMware Inc.' - so be careful lol