IR35 off-payroll working consultation opens today

The eagerly anticipated consultation on Off-Payroll Working in the Private Sector to reform IR35 from April 2020 is released today, Tuesday March 4th 2019.

In a statement to the House of Commons last night, Treasury minister Mel Stride MP said the government would today publish a call for “views on the detailed design of the reform”.

It follows "evidence [which] has suggested" that the IR35 rules of 2000 have been “frequently misapplied”, whereas the IR35 reforms of 2017 have “proved effective”, Mr Stride stated.

Justifying his latter claim, the minister said that the April reforms have generated £550million in just 12 months -- a yield also trumpeted yesterday by HMRC’s Jim Harra.   

Should the government choose not to extend the reforms, as contractor body IPSE and many others have urged, the exchequer will be deprived of £1.3billion by 2022/23, Mr Stride said.

The minister's statement adds: “By changing the design of the off-payroll working rules, we are helping individuals working in this way to ensure they are compliant with the existing legislation.

“For this reason, the government’s focus will be on supporting organisations and businesses to apply the rules rather than enforcing historic cases.

“Our aim is to provide individuals and businesses with greater certainty around how the off-payroll working rules will operate from April 2020 and the actions that individuals and businesses can take to prepare for the reform.”

Editor’s Note: The HMRC consultation has now been published -- view it here. Read what both experts on IR35 and stauts advisers have told ContractorUK that they make of the consultation's contents, below:

IR35 experts size up off-payroll working consultation

Off-payroll recap: what the Treasury promised Vs what HMRC proposes