The Accountants trade body, the ATT, welcomes clarity from HMRC about off-payroll working and when a change in a worker’s reported status from April 2020 might trigger an enquiry into their tax affairs from earlier years.
From April 2020, the off-payroll rules that apply to contractors engaged in the public sector will be extended to the private sector. This will shift responsibility for determining whether an engagement falls within the off-payroll (IR35) rules from the worker’s personal service company (PSC) to the engager (the business which requires the worker’s services).
The off-payroll rules are complex to apply and many contractors are concerned that if their engager reaches a different conclusion from them – or simply makes a blanket decision that all its contractors are within the off-payroll rules to reduce their own tax risk – HMRC might use the change in reported status as a reason to enquire into the contractor’s tax affairs from previous years.
“Tax enquiries can be exceedingly stressful for all concerned and, since the off-payroll rules require the balancing of a number of different factors, can take a long time to resolve. Without the assurance now contained in the policy paper, contractors were understandably concerned that recognition of a different status from April 2020 could give HMRC grounds for seeking additional tax for earlier years. The risk of any such retrospective enquiry is substantially reduced by HMRC’s clarification.”
