the words ir35 on a transparent background
istock_funtap_aw

Government launches off-payroll review

by

The government has announced a review of the roll-out of its off-payroll working rules, but industry specialists have expressed concern that the analysis will not result in any meaningful change.

8th Jan 2020
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

A review of changes to off-payroll (IR35) working rules was announced in a statement yesterday and has been commissioned to “address any concerns from businesses and affected individuals about how they will be implemented”.

The statement indicated that the review will conclude by mid-February, and will focus on determining if “any further steps can be taken to ensure the successful implementation of the reforms” and if any additional support is needed to ensure that the self-employed, who are not in scope of the rules, are not impacted.

IR35 was originally introduced from April 2000 to tackle the issue of individuals paying less tax and NI by working through personal service companies (PSCs) or other intermediaries. There have been many tweaks to the IR35 rules over the years, and in 2017 they were redrafted for public sector contracts and rebadged as “off-payroll working”. The latest reforms to the off-payroll working legislation are due to be rolled out in the private sector from 6 April 2020.

Register for free to continue reading

It’s 100% free and provides unlimited access to the latest accounting news, advice and insight every day. As well as access to this exclusive article, you can:


Content lock down, tick icon

View all AccountingWEB content


Content lock down, tick icon

Comment on articles


Content lock down, tick icon

Watch our digital shows and more

Access content now

Already have an account?

Replies (6)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
09th Jan 2020 09:24

Bit late in the day given the rules bite essentially from 1st Feb, assuming an end of month bill and 30-40 day payment terms.

Thanks (1)
Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
avatar
By wilcoskip
09th Jan 2020 11:21

Also a bit late given that many employers have already kicked their subbies out of companies and made firm arrangements for the new scheme.

Thanks (1)
Mohit Baheti
By camohitbaheti
09th Jan 2020 13:38

Also, the review is more about how the rules shall be implemented rather than considering their overall need/existence. We shall not be very hopeful for a positive outcome unfortunately.

Thanks (1)
avatar
By raycad
09th Jan 2020 14:59

My money is on this being a pre-cursor to a 12 month implementation delay. There's no other explanation, given the very short timescale and the fact that the new CEST tool was only wheeled last month. HMRC have form in this sort of thing. Off the top of my head I can recall the "new" CIS scheme, the SRT rules and MTD, for all of which the roll-out was delayed by at least 12 months.

The reason is invariably because HMRC "over-promise" delivery timetables to their Treasury masters, only for it to dawn on them very late in the day that they are simply not ready. And they will then claim that the delay is because their "customers" are ill-prepared and need more time.

Thanks (0)
Replying to raycad:
avatar
By GR
09th Jan 2020 19:09

raycad wrote:

My money is on this being a pre-cursor to a 12 month implementation delay. There's no other explanation, given the very short timescale and the fact that the new CEST tool was only wheeled last month. HMRC have form in this sort of thing. Off the top of my head I can recall the "new" CIS scheme, the SRT rules and MTD, for all of which the roll-out was delayed by at least 12 months.

The reason is invariably because HMRC "over-promise" delivery timetables to their Treasury masters, only for it to dawn on them very late in the day that they are simply not ready. And they will then claim that the delay is because their "customers" are ill-prepared and need more time.

I think the government are only going to look at how to have a smooth implementation of the reform. I believe this reform was suppose to come into the private sector on 6 April 2019 but then got delayed. My money is firmly on this reform going through on 6 April 2020. It has already been operating for nearly 3 years in the public sector.

Thanks (0)
avatar
By GR
09th Jan 2020 19:19

I don't understand how the big contractor accountancy firms such as Clearsky, SJD, Brooksons, JSA, Nixon Williams, Crunch, etc are going to cope with this new reform? Sure their umbrella operations may get bigger but what about their accountants in the accountancy side. Surely a few redundancies ahead? I am assuming their accountants must currently be leaving these firm in big numbers. The next Thomas Cook or Toys R Us could be a contractor accountants? However I believe John Stokdyk wrote a good article on how crunch is currently adapting so maybe they will be OK?

Thanks (0)