IR35 (again)

[adestor]

Hi,

I recently started a contract which the agent claimed was outside IR35. Being a cautious kind of person, and not believing anything an agent tells me anyway, I asked my accountant to do a review. They said the contract definitely is outside IR35. The question is, do I take what the accounts say as a green light to start paying divvys ? My accountants are well experienced in IT contracting (they advertise on here regularly), but at the end of the day it's just their opinion.
Another interesting point which the accountant mentioned was that 95% of their contractors were outside of IR35 - I was shocked by that number as I thought a lot of people would be caught by it.

Thoughts ?

Thanks !

[TheFaQQer]

Welcome.

I guess the extent to which you trust your accountant is important here - they may be well versed in IT accountancy, but how good are they legally? If you are paying them for advice, and you aren't confident in their advice, then you should consider moving anyway.

As you say, at the end of the day, it's another opinion - however, it's worth a lot more than that of an agent. Your accountant should be giving you well thought out, accurate advice; an agent will tell you whatever you want to hear.

If you want another opinion, then have a look at Lawspeed, Bauer & Cotterell or Qdos who provide more of a legal opinion than an accountant. I trust my accountant for the figures, but I send my contracts to Qdos for review.

[malvolio]

FWIW roughly 90% of tradtional ITR contractors ould probably construct a case for being outside IR35. The criteria are understood, you simply have to apply a bit of effort in getting everything in line. Since that will get you a 20% increase in take-home, it seems a bit of a no brainer.

If the accountant says yes, then go with it.

[adestor]

Hi TheFaqqer,

My accountants are SJD and I do trust them - they seem to be generally well respected on this forum. They did send it to their legal department for review so it wasn't just the accountants opinion.

Probably I should go with their advice then.

Thanks