It is wrong but who is guilty?

https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/22345/documents/165286/default/

Good news came from Public Accounts committee in the House of Commons in their report “Lessons from implementing IR35 reforms”. The parliamentary committee recognises IR35 reforms “have caused problems” and “structural problems remain with the way IR35 operates in practice”. The report shows that “HMRC rushed implementation of the reforms; provided poor guidance”.

There were - and still are - many calls within contractors’ community to speak out against the reform. Letters are sent to the Government and the Parliament, petitions are signed and published. Are there any actions like this from employers? How many protests were raised by Health Services, Government offices, banks or large firms?

The responsibility of conducting status determination lies with employers, but there is a high risk of making the wrong decision. HMRC didn’t provide clear and robust ways to ensure the correct assessment. Did large companies with immense power of capital and of legal departments stand up and request reform to be postponed until reasonable rules are in place? Did they use their financial analysis power to argue with HMRC about the impact on their operations, and most importantly on the price customers will pay?

Instead, a solution that many have implemented is “either completely ceased using PSCs or made a blanket determination that all off-payroll workers should be employed for tax purposes”. Indeed, no action means no mistake.  This results in a dramatic hit for a large group of working people, disruption to many processes (the UK lorry drivers crisis is still fresh in our memories), and the bottom line is that prices increase across the industries.

HMRC can be blamed for issues in this reform, but I see a larger role from the supporting forces – authoritative organisations who could say “No”, but preferred to keep their silence.