Around five hundred contractors gathered outside Parliament last week in order to protest against the rollout of the IR35 changes to the private sector.
They were also joined by several MPs supporting the campaign, including the Liberal Democrats’ Sarah Olney and Daisy Cooper, and Labour MPs Ruth Cadbury and Rupa Huq.
Organised by the Stop Off-Payroll Tax Campaign, the protest saw the group rally outside Parliament and then move on to the Treasury where a letter was presented to the Chancellor, calling for a stop to the damaging new private sector rules.
It also expressed the need for a review into the IR35 legislation, which is deemed as deeply flawed, and for a better way to recognise contracting in the tax system.
Speaking at the rally, IPSE’s Deputy Director of External Affairs Andy Chamberlain, said, “The IR35 changes which are due to come in April are already causing devastation.
“Businesses are being forced to close due to clients not understanding the off-payroll rules and there’s a good reason why they don’t understand them – because nobody understands them.
“The rules are so complicated that the hiring organisations that have to apply them are saying they are no longer going to use contractors and that’s bad for self-employed businesses, bad for clients they work with and bad for the economy as a whole.”
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