Mark Cawthron LLB CTA examines a series of recent case decisions from celebrity TV presenters to IT contractors to understand the reasoning behind the rulings on use of personal service companies, and HMRC’s one in three success rate
As we approach 6 April 2020 and the further shift in responsibility for IR35 compliance from intermediary to engagers at medium to large sized businesses (together with the new ‘status determinations’), assessing which side of the line an arrangement falls seems ever more important.
There is of course the well-known injunction (in Hall (HMIT) v Lorimer (1993) BTC 473) that ‘having considered all the relevant factors, it is necessary to stand back from the detail and make a qualitative assessment of the facts as found’.
It is also important to have the good sense to consider checking all arrangements through the lens of HMRC’s CEST (Check Employment Status for Tax) tool.
Nevertheless, in situations susceptible to IR35, three aspects are worth looking at more closely in light of the tribunal cases over the last two years.
