HMRC has issued a consultation on the amendment of the IR35 legislation in order to deal with workers who provide services to a public sector engager through an intermediary. The proposed new rules will make the public sector engager, or if a third party is involved, that third party, rather than the intermediary, responsible for deciding whether the IR35 rules apply and if they do, for calculating, reporting and paying the relevant tax and NICs to HMRC. The changes are to take effect from April 2017. The government estimates that these changes will generate an additional £555 million by the end of 2020/21. Whilst these changes will not apply to the private sector, it can only be a matter of time before they are extended to the private sector.
The consultation documentation is available to view here.
