The House of Lords Economic Affairs Finance Bill Sub-Committee’s follow up report on the IR35 legislation was published last week and has been welcomed by the self-employed.
Looking into the 2021 off-payroll working reforms, this latest report highlights the flaws in the CEST tool, as well as inconsistency across tax and employment rights.
Andy Chamberlain, Director of Policy at IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed), commented on the recent report, “Their Lordships have once again cut through the complex web surrounding IR35 and have identified some key areas that must be addressed as a matter of urgency by the government.
“In particular, the committee is right to highlight the inherent flaws in HMRC’s CEST tool, which undermines the veracity of thousands of status determinations.
“Similarly, we fully support their recommendations around the need to clarify employment status rules and to ensure that individuals are treated fairly across both tax and employment rights. If action isn’t taken by the government to solve this issue, then self-employed workers will continue to be in a ‘worst-of-both-worlds’ scenario where they are taxed as employees yet denied the full suite of benefits associated with employment.”
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