Brought to you by
Qdos Vantage, simplifies Tax Fee Protection Insurance, by offering a full and comprehensive package...
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

What's Happening with IR35 Right Now?

5th Aug 2014
Brought to you by
Qdos Vantage, simplifies Tax Fee Protection Insurance, by offering a full and comprehensive package...
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

For a long time now, your contractors will have been plagued by the uncertainty and worry presented by the IR35 legislation.

However, in more recent times, many sources have claimed that more enquiries are being instigated than ever before.

Usually, and perhaps understandably, these claims will be met with much scepticism. But how much truth actually is there buried in the crowd of IR35 warnings?

Currently:

  • There are now four teams solely dedicated to launching IR35 enquiries, each containing 10 revenue inspectors.
  • If the past couple of years are anything to go by, HMRC do look set to launch more enquiries than they have before. Last year, the number of cases quadrupled from the previous year.
  • Perhaps motivated by a considerable decrease in tax yield from their investigations between 2009 and 2011, HMRC have acquired over £1 million in both of the previous two tax years for IR35 enquiries alone.

From experts in the field to contractors themselves, many individuals are noticing changes where IR35 is concerned.

Ex-revenue inspector Andy Vessey asserted that he has witnessed an increase in enquiries, and whilst HMRC continue to be interested in the public sector, they are now definitely casting their net further afield.

He also warned that despite the revenue’s promises two years ago that they would quickly close down cases where they had sufficient evidence to do so, Andy is now seeing signs of HMRC slipping back to their old ways of unnecessarily prolonging investigations.

“Certain Status Inspectors are now digging their heels in and their actions appear to be premeditated,” He added.

Contractors themselves have also noticed the accelerating activity, with one issuing their own warning on a popular networking thread: “Believe me, IR35 is getting more vicious and I'm hearing of people being asked to complete a compliance check on a regular basis. Public sector contractors feel hounded and there is every possibility that many will exit the service leaving key services at real risk.”

Expert consultant Kate Hardy, who has had dealings with IR35 for 12 years now, has also noticed a trend in the enquiries she is defending.

She revealed, “Most of the enquiries we’re defending are ones where the contractor has no insurance, so they’re having to pay on an hourly consultancy rate rather than being able to rely on an insurance policy to cover all of these costs.”

Qdos Contractor want to help you help your contractors during this worrying time of ascending investigations.

We partner with accountants to offer them a range of free services for the benefit of both themselves and their contractors, which are detailed in a previous article on Accounting Web.

From low cost IR35 insurance to contract and working practice reviews, we can help ensure your contractors’ compliance.

Find out more by contacting 0116 243 7864 or email amy@qdoscontractor.com.  

Tags: