If PAYE/NICs to the taxman fall short under both Chapters 11 and 7, the top agency or MSP is on the hook. And if there’s no agency or no umbrella, the end-client is on the hook.
Policy-makers’ focus on 665,000 Personal Service Companies must be sharpened to untangle them from the web that successive governments have ensnared them in.
HMRC’s ‘retrospective due diligence’ -- revisiting MSC determinations mid-appeal to request the actual income data -- is unprecedented. So too will be the FTT’s decision in just six months.
Contrary to dangerous assumptions, it’s end-clients who face joint and several liability for agency contractors’ PAYE/NIC debts, unless an umbrella company is involved.