Kingsbridge continues its What the IR35?! podcast series with a packed second episode. This week, Kingsbridge’s MD Tom Wynne and Legal Manager Nikki Hayman speak to James Poyser, Founder of OffPayroll.org.uk, a website fighting for fair IR35 assessments and the right for two-out-of-three of us to work lawfully outside IR35 using PSCs.
James joins them to discuss the IR35 reforms as OffPayroll.org.uk sees them. The site’s current message is simply: there are bigger things to worry about than IR35 right now. Start thinking about IR35 come Q3. That said, as contract renewals begin to come up. Take a look at what your client has said and done regarding IR35 so far and have a serious think about whether you still want to be with them come April 2021.
The conversation naturally comes around to COVID support for the self-employed and the fact that PSCs have been left out. James says he can see both sides. On the one hand he understands people are desperately worried about how they will pay their bills. On the other, limited company directors have been arguing that they are not employees but business owners and should be allowed to continue to take advantage of the business taxation scheme, “so, when the axe falls with something like CV-19, is it realistic and fair to expect the same level of limited support, as a contractor running a limited company, as an employee?”
He continues, “People need to be very, very careful for what they wish for. Because if they want handouts and support from CV-19 that matches that of a permanent employee, then I think it’s only fair that the government turns round and says, ‘If that’s the kind of support you want then we expect you to take part in a tax regime that is designed for employees, not that of business owners.'”
Of course, as Nikki points out, the flipside of this is that lobbyists could use the hardships faced by contractors now to argue against the reforms.
To hear more about this, the IR35 postponement, and why recruiters should be very careful about managing their reputations right now, listen to Episode Two here.
