| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| jema |
IR35 rears its ugly headhttp://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/10/freelancer_tax_ruling/Scary, even I get a tad worried on this one. |
| orangepippin |
I don't see the problem. It looks like this guy was to all intents and purposes an "employee" of the AA. Regardless of whether IR35 is a good law or not, it is a law and this guy seems to have fallen within its scope. I think the Section 660 (husband and wife business) is a bigger concern than IR35, because there the IR was defeated in court, yet it is now attempting to introduce new legislation to get its own way regardless. |
| jema |
I have no position on the rights or wrongs of the tax ruling as such.
But I do have an issue with the time span and vagaries of it all. I am blatantly not an employee, but my accountant was worried this one might bite me. |
| orangepippin |
I do agree that with both IR35 and Section 660, the IR seems to be acting somewhat beyond its brief. It should be collecting tax based on laws set by the government, not getting involved in the legislative process for its own ends. It seems pretty likely that IR35 has killed the small IT contractor industry in the UK, and probably led to the wave of outsourcing to overseas suppliers. What the government has gained from IR35 tax revenues is probably far outweighed by the revenues now lost to overseas companies. |
| Treacodactyl |
The problem with IR35 is that many people it was designed to catch just came up with other schemes to avoid it and people who should not be caught paid up out unnecessarily of fear.
If you conduct yourself in an open an honest way and file company accounts, tax returns etc then it's very, very harsh for the IR to suddenly decide you need to pay back tax for several years and also to fine you - they should check the details filed within a year. I think the number of cases to go against the IR is still vastly more than the ones they've one, by something like 500:1 so surely that shows how badly designed and implemented IR35 is? |
| Shane |
It's all irrelevant anyway, surely? Once the new legislation forcing companies give temporary staff the same benefits as permanent staff, the contractor market will be utterly destroyed. |