They’re changing the rules on IR35. They seem to have forgotten that probably its first goal was to indemnify the top of the chain from tax malfeasance; it was only a second goal to shag the horny handed sons of toil in the IT industry. A few notes …
According to some it was originally designed to disrupt the BBC as they sought to pursue Thatcher’s privatisation through the supply chain. i.e. outsource stuff. Famously, John Birt, the one time DG used one of these vehicles to avoid a shed load of tax.
Until last year it was down to the supplier to certify the genuine nature of the contract i.e. if the contract was not disguised employment. Last year, the public sector service purchasers had to take responsibility, most notably and disruptively the BBC & the NHS. It is planned that private sector companies will take responsibility this coming year, and many are refusing, insisting that contractor are either inside IR35 (and hence have Tax & NI deducted) or they are transferring the roles to staff i.e. employee/worker status.
According to Farage’s pundit, the debts can be pursued for 20 years.
Here’s the HMRC test, known as CEST., if you want to stay outside IR35.
OnRec, an HR based webzine published this puff piece for Talon, which suggests that Fixed Price contracts will always be outside IR35 since they are payment on delivery of specific artefacts.
Here are some useful templates from IT Contracting, to put these into contract terms.