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Lords PSC report: Be careful what you wish for
by Susie Hughes at 13:03 09/04/14 (News on IR35)
After the publication of the damning House of Lords report into IR35, there were immediate calls for the suspension of IR35 while 'proper consideration' is given to its abolition.
However, Barry Roback from Privilege Accounts, an IR35 expert and an 'elder statesman' of the freelancer movement issued a note of caution about what might lie ahead.

Barry Roback told Shout99: "My concern is 'be careful for what you wish for'. If HMRC are forced to go back to the drawing board, they will surely take the opportunity to tighten up on the areas that are weak in the current legislation and perhaps introduce debt transfer etc. on top of whatever new legislation they then come up with.

"One thing is for sure, HMRC will not simply turn their backs on what they believe to be so-called 'disguised employment' via a PSC.

"Do we really need yet another new piece of legislation to meddle in the way that freelancers deliver their services?

"As much as I dislike IR35, at least we have learned to live with it and understand the motives and intent behind the legislation."

One of the problem areas with IR35 has been the amount of income it has actually generated for the Exchequer. While HMRC has banded about figures such as £520 million, this has been difficult to prove. It is a figure more than 17 times that of the actual yield collected from IR35, but there is the grey area of how much is actualy raised with the so-called 'deterrent effect'.

Now the report from the House of Lords Select Committee is putting pressure on HMRC to justify the financial impact of the tax on 'disguised employees'.

More information
Shout99 has followed this subject closely and reported updates, reactions and analysis. For more information, see our News on IR35 Section. You can also subscribe to free email alerts when new items appear in this section, so you won't miss out on any important development.

The full report can be viewed here: Select Committee on Personal Service Companies - First Report - Personal Service Companies


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Susie Hughes © Shout99 2014


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