TEMPLATE EMAIL for IR35 / OFF-PAYROLL TAX - ACTION REQUIRED
David Gerrish
IT Monitoring & Observability Engineer/Consultant with 30+ years of experience. Empowering IT Professionals to become Confident Contractors via the IT Contracting Academy Groups.
Please email your MP using the email template below TONIGHT (deadline is 12 noon Weds)
[SUBJECT] Please table a question on the damaging Off-Payroll Tax!
Dear [MP name],
I hope you had a good summer recess and managed to take some time off, despite everything going on and can I welcome you back to Parliament.
I am writing to ask you, as my MP, to table an Oral Treasury Question on the Off-Payroll Tax for next week’s session on Tuesday 10th September. The deadline is this Wednesday 4th September, 12 noon.
The draft Finance Bill was published on Thursday 11th July, which included the Off-Payroll Tax, showing that yet again, the Treasury and HMRC have completely ignored their own consultation!
The off-payroll tax means a 14.3% extra cost on UK businesses who rely on contractors, meaning many firms big and small will be affected - which will damage the UK economy.
The damage that this ill-considered measure will do is as follows:
- At least 150,000 UK contractors could lose up to a huge 20% of their pay, with some families unable to pay mortgages as a result.
- The new tax contravenes the principles of natural justice by not only expecting firms to become judges of “tax crimes” ahead of unknown future events, but also shuts off access to a tax tribunal.
- UK contracting talent will be replaced by offshore providers putting UK workers out of work and depriving UK industry of essential access to key skills and the skilled flexible workforce.
- Thousands of contractors will be forced into false employment and unfairly taxed as employees with no employer pension contributions, sickness or holiday pay.
- It will lead to tax non-compliance and the danger of people being lured into avoidance schemes.
- It will damage the UK economy.
Some suggested questions for you to table are:
- What assessment he has made of the cost to UK business of the roll-out of the off-payroll rules to the private sector?
- What assessment he has made of the number of contracting roles that will be lost to the UK economy from the roll-out of the off-payroll rules?
- What assessment he has made of the impact on the public sector from the off-payroll rules?
- What assessment he has made of the impact on pay rates as a result of the off-payroll roll-out?
So I am asking for your support by tabling a question, by noon on Wednesday 4th September and if you are not successful, perhaps you could ask a topical question instead. The Stop The Off-Payroll Tax campaign are happy to supply supplementary or topical questions for you to ask, please let me know if this would be helpful.
Also please write to the new Chancellor, Sajid Javid, asking that he and the Government listen and halt plans to roll out the Off-Payroll Tax and please also discuss this issue with colleagues to raise concerns.
Finally If you sign EDMs, please sign EDM 2379 on pausing the plans to roll-out the Off-Payroll Tax.
I hope you will help persuade the Government to Stop The Off-Payroll Tax - and instead support the UK’s flexible workforce.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
[NAME]
[ADDRESS]