We’re hosting another IR35 webinar on Tuesday 8th September to help you prepare for the off-payroll reform due to be implemented in 2021. On the panel will be our IR35 Project Manager Ryan Dawson, IR35 Consultancy Manager Matt Tyler, and CEO of inniAccounts and founder of IR35 watchdog site offpayroll.org James Poyser.
During the webinar, we’ll be:
– Analysing the recent IR35 tribunal of TalkSPORT’s Paul Hawksbee
– Explaining the minor employment status tests that could swing a status determination
– Offering guidance on what your end client should be doing on the run up to the 2021 reform deadline
– Tackling some FAQs from across the industry
We’ll also be supplying complementary guidance content on the major status tests and what you can do to protect yourself along with a recording of the webinar for your reference.
Sign up here to secure your spot or read on to find out more about why you should attend.
Insight into the Paul Hawksbee IR35 tribunal from industry experts
TalkSPORT radio presenter, Paul Hawksbee, won his IR35 appeal at the First-tier Tax Tribunal back in July 2019 – but only just. He then went onto have this appealed by HMRC earlier this year and was unfortunately found to be inside IR35 this time around.
Judge Thomas Scott and Tribunal member Charles Baker differed quite dramatically in their opinions, and it was left to the Judge to exercise his casting vote in favour of Mr Hawksbee in the end. It shouldn’t be too big a surprise (although ultimately unfortunate for Mr Hawksbee) that it swung the other way in an appeal brought by HMRC and heard at Upper Tribunal on 16th and 17th June 2020. IR35 is, after all, a notoriously slippery piece of legislation.
Our panel of experts will explain the background of the first tribunal, pulling out what swayed the initial outside decision, and look at the aspects that had an influence on the new inside decision. They’ll also give some contextual examples as to how it might apply to other professions outside presenting to help you apply it to perhaps your current situation.
Matt Tyler explains the minor IR35 status tests
The private sector IR35 reform was cemented to go ahead in April 2021 after MPs voted against another delay to the new rules back in July. Contractors, recruiters, and end clients operating in the private sector should not delay in getting ready for the reform, and education around what constitutes an inside or outside determination is the first place to start.
When determining employment status for IR35, we usually focus on the three main key status tests: Right to Substitution, Control, and Mutuality of Obligation. However, there appears to be a gap in knowledge when it comes to minor status tests – which can often swing a borderline case.
These minor status tests can be something of a minefield, so we’ll be giving a detailed overview of what they might entail for you as a contractor, complete with plenty of real-life examples and guidance on what you can do to avoid falling into bad habits when it comes to your client relationship.
Advice on how end clients should be approaching the IR35 reform
Many large corporates in the financial and pharma sectors pre-empted the changes to IR35 by taking ‘risk-averse’ measures late last year. It began with HSBC announcing a cull in limited company contractors, which was quickly followed by Morgan Stanley, and M&G Investments. Later on, Barclays and Lloyds took the softer but still contractor-averse stance of pushing all limited company contractors to PAYE. GSK and other pharma agencies also went the same way just before Christmas 2019.
Off the back of all these knee-jerk reactions, sites like offpayroll.org.uk sprung up to help the self-employed track who was taking a negative approach to the reforms, and who was supporting contractors with fair employment status assessments. This time around, contractors will understand the legislation a lot better, and are well-prepared for what may come as a result of the impeding reform.
This is why it’s absolutely paramount that recruiters and end clients start preparing way in advance. We take a look back at the mistakes made by end clients on the run-up to the original 2020 reform deadline and advise on how you as the contractor can have a little more power this time around if you’re concerned about the employment status process in place.
You can also refer your end client for some IR35 consultancy and a status tool demo here.
IR35 FAQs and live Q&A opportunity
Lastly, we’ll be answering industry FAQs and taking your questions on a live Q&A. We might not get time to cover them all, but we’ll be doing a series of these webinars on the leadup to the 2021 deadline and will endeavour to answer as many as we can over the course of the next few months.
When: 12:30pm – 1:30pm, Tuesday 8th September
