Last year, HMRC’s decision to shift responsibility for determining when IR35 applies to public authority engagers triggered a mass exodus of contractors from the public sector. With a consultation about how to roll out the changes to the private sector due to end soon, contractors should ensure they have a clear understanding of what the legislation means and how to test IR35 status in order to avoid falling foul of HMRC. 

IR35 was originally introduced to address the issue of ‘false self-employment’ – attacking the ability to structure engagements to avoid the payment of PAYE. In the 2016 Autumn Statement, it was announced that the decision about whether the conditions for IR35 were met would move from the contractor and their personal service company (PSC) to the public authority engager. 

Wit