IR35 update: should Contractors press the emergency button?

Well, yes, no, maybe is my short answer.

The longer more cynical answer would be that HMRC will continue to ignore all council (as they did with the public sector reforms) and get the roll out done as soon as they can - as in April 2018. If that’s the case then anyone with a contract that spans that period needs to consider what might happen by evaluating their status. In fact yesterday afternoon, straight after the Budget, 227 contractors got a free IR35 review done with our IR35 Testing tool – ir35testing.co.uk.

If you're a more positive person, and don’t believe that the considered words in the Budget ("careful to consult") are simply paying lip service to the lobbying efforts, then you could trust that they won’t rush this through and that it will be April 2019 before the private sector feels the brunt of reforms.

If the consultation is published this year though, probably early December, then they have every chance of getting it in for April 2018.

It would be a terrible thing to do, madness…. but then so were the Public Sector reforms.

By Dave Chaplin

About Contractor Calculator - We’ve been online and independent since 1999. Still owned by founder and former IT contractor Dave Chaplin, the business has grown dramatically since then to become the expert guide to contracting. The team have created a free independent IR35 testing tool to enable contractors and agencies to ascertain their IR35 status. Developed with input from employment law status experts, the IR35 Test was first released on ContractorCalculator in 2009 and has already been used by over 150,000 contractors. To reduce your risk of investigation and tax liabilities visit www.IR35testing.co.uk to take your free test now.