Since the Government made the decision to reverse the IR35, what does this really mean to contractors?

In a number of manufacturing businesses and especially Rail, we have seen employers pushing contractors towards umbrella organisations merely to protect themselves from adverse scrutiny from the HMRC.

The definition of employed status has become vague, it is merely about paying tax and NI contributions. Fully employed people do not pay for their own travel and subsistence, have to pay for their own tools and or indeed have to find their own work once the contract has ended.

This decision is about a common sense approach to tax affairs when contractors have to prove their conditions of employment whilst been able to claim for valid expenses. If you only work for one employer exclusively then you are indeed employed, if you are moving around from contract to contract then surely you are a contractor and hence deal with you own tax affairs and indeed pay tax, national insurance, in addition to maybe VAT and corporation tax. The UK Government have been chasing a few greedy individuals who have avoided large tax burdens however in the process have throttled the manufacturing industry, already struggling with a labour shortage, congratulations to common sense and please do not undertake a u turn on this change.

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