Since 1996, Adrian Chiles had been working for the BBC and then subsequently ITV, with a mix of BBC and ITV contracts, and work for other media outlets, and was being paid through his personal service company, Basic Broadcasting Limited (BBL). He set this up following a decision taken by the BBC in 1996 that BBC presenters should be removed from the payroll and paid on a freelance contractor basis.

This appeal concerned tax years 2012-13 to 2016-17, covering the period from 6 April 2012 to 5 April 2017. During that period BBL provided Chiles’ services for two ITV contracts and three BBC contracts, in addition to other work for other parties.

HMRC issued determinations for income tax and notices of decision in respect of national insurance contributions (NICs) to BBL for those tax years, based on the IR35 intermediaries legislation, raising the question about whether Chiles should be considered as an employee.