Do you take out IR35 Insurance?

[d000hg]

I never have, unless my old PCG membership included this the year I was a member, as I've been very happy I'm way outside, but a possible new contract is perhaps less clear.

I was interested what proportion of contractors are covered against HMRC inquiries and penalties in relation to IR35, and who the most popular providers of such cover are...

[GB9]

I have QDOS TLC which covers most eventualities.

I'm sure some will point out its relatively cheap as the likelihood of it being required is remote, however, I don't want to be the person who gets bankrupted due to some bizarre interpretation of the law. And I consider myself way outside ir35.

[Pondlife]

Yes, through QDOS.

It's one less thing to concern myself with now.

[DirtyDog]

PCG+ membership, and Qdos TLC35 just to be really certain that I have cover for any penalty as well.

Probably overkill, and I'm pretty certain that I'm outside and always have been, but for less than a day's billing, I figure it's a no-brainer.

[d000hg]

How long does your cover last? If you take a contract now and are covered, then in a year take a juicy permie job, do you have to keep your cover up forever?

i.e. does your policy cover you against investigations launched during the policy lifetime, or future investigations which target events during the policy lifetime?

[russell]

No for me the risk is so minisucally small it would be irrational to take it.

In September 2011 a Freedom of Information Request revealed that the number of cases reviewed had fallen from 158 (year ending April 2007) to 12 in year ending April 2010 and 23 in year ending April 2011. The same document also gives the "tax yield received for the requested years" as having fallen from £1,906,619 to £219,180. No details are given for the costs of the investigations or the costs of collecting the tax.

IR35 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It failed as a piece of legislation, it raised an order of maginute less than expected and costs much more than it brings in, it's now just left to scare the new/naive contractor.

[DirtyDog]

How long does your cover last? If you take a contract now and are covered, then in a year take a juicy permie job, do you have to keep your cover up forever?

i.e. does your policy cover you against investigations launched during the policy lifetime, or future investigations which target events during the policy lifetime?

HMRC have six years to go back through, so it makes sense to keep the policy / PCG membership going for a year or so after you finish contracting. You need to have cover in place when the investigation starts to be covered.

[Qdos Contractor]

HMRC have six years to go back through, so it makes sense to keep the policy / PCG membership going for a year or so after you finish contracting. You need to have cover in place when the investigation starts to be covered.

It's six years into an open company. If you stop contracting and close your company down the window of opportunity for HMRC to enquire diminishes.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Yes, if you count my PCG Plus membership (which isn't strictly insurance and doesn't just cover IR35, which I'm confident I'm outside of).

[Qdos Contractor]

No for me the risk is so minisucally small it would be irrational to take it.



IR35 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It failed as a piece of legislation, it raised an order of maginute less than expected and costs much more than it brings in, it's now just left to scare the new/naive contractor.

I realise I can't really add anything meaningful to this thread without it being considered heavily biased...but the above doesn't really tell the full story. Enquiries did indeed drop to 23 in y/e April 2011, but then rose to 193 in the first half of y/e April 2013.

We've got several cases on the go and HMRC have openly upped their resources dedicated to 'policing' IR35.