Jeremy Vine’s brush with IR35 is only the beginning for the BBC presenter

Another week, another presenter caught up in an IR35 investigation by HMRC – well, that’s certainly what it feels like, doesn’t it?

This time, it’s BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine. It has emerged that the presenter is facing allegations of IR35 non-compliance, dating back almost a decade.

Vine is the latest in a long line

Much like other high-profile TV and radio presenters – including Gary Lineker, Eamonn Holmes, Kaye Adams and Adrian Chiles – Vine is under HMRC’s microscope.

And judging by the case notes, the IR35 investigation into Mr Vine’s personal service company, Jelly Vine Productions Ltd, has been ongoing for some time.

As this IR35 cases has comparatively flown under the radar, let me bring you up to speed on where the Vine case is currently, and what’s happened so far, writes Seb Maley, CEO of IR35 contract review firms Qdos.

Vine versus HMRC - background

Jeremy Vine has been associated with the BBC for decades, working as a presenter from the late 1980s onwards across a wide range of its programmes.

Since about 2005, Vine has operated through his limited company, Jelly Vine Productions Ltd, and from then onwards he has continued to work for the BBC in a freelance capacity.

He’s best known for his daily lunchtime programme on Radio 2.

What BBC-Jelly Vine Productions contracts is HMRC probing?

However, HMRC took issue with contracts held between Vine and the BBC during the 2013/14 to 2015/16 tax years. Those contracts covered four BBC productions: the Jeremy Vine Show - the weekday Radio 2 programme, election coverage, Eggheads (a quiz show which Vine hosts), and BBC1's Points of View.

The tax authority believes that Vine had “personally performed services for the BBC” over the course of these contracts.

That’s a big red flag for IR35 status.

An uncommon approach

But in the Vine case, HMRC took an approach that we’ve seen in some (but not many) IR35 investigations. During its enquiry, the tax office issued decisions tax-year-by-tax-year – before its overall investigation was complete.

This was because the tax liabilities for these years were approaching time limits for their recovery (something set out in primary legislation). One decision – for the 2015/16 tax year – was “expressly stated to be a precautionary measure”.

Vine, naturally, disagreed with this approach. He sought a “preliminary issues hearing” at the tax tribunal to contest the way HMRC had reached its conclusions.

Vine loses

This hearing was held on June 5th 2024, where Vine’s legal representatives argued that HMRC’s decisions about each tax year were made “on a protective basis only”, and that they were “all premature and therefore invalid”.

However, First-Tier Tribunal judge Amanda Brown KC disagreed with Vine on this point, ruling that HMRC’s decision was based on “the evidence available to them” at the time – they were not made purely on a protective basis.

The ruling means that the preliminary issues have been resolved – though not in the way that Vine would have hoped – and the case of his IR35 status will be heard in full at the FTT at a later date.

The bigger picture

First and foremost, HMRC clearly still has freelance presenters of celebrity status in its sights.

So here we have a timely reminder of the tax authority’s priorities which have remained constant despite the change of government.

As it is a preliminary issues hearing, there is some consensus that HMRC’s enquiry into Vine’s tax affairs has been ongoing for some time.

This is only the beginning of a potentially long IR35 segment for the BBC presenter

Unfortunately for him, it’s very much not over yet.

Just like HMRC’s investigations into Lineker, Adams, Chiles and Holmes, it’s difficult to translate or apply all of the learnings from this IR35 investigation across to the contractor population at large.

This is because of how freelance presenters work – often subject to control, often without the right of substitution – which is unlike the ways in which typical IT tend to work.

The taxman’s commitment

But there is certainly one key takeaway from this case, and it is applicable to the UK’s wider contracting workforce: HMRC remains committed to pursuing contracts held before IR35 reform.

Granted, this isn’t exactly a revelation which would make it onto Vine’s own lunchtime show!

But it’s a useful reminder of the importance of being able to demonstrate your IR35 compliance, even for those contracts which predate April 6th 2021 private sector reform of IR35. It’s not a bad reminder, either, of the importance of being protected in the event HMRC launches an investigation.

That said, Vine’s brush with IR35 (the presenter has had the first episode and part two is now incoming) isn’t a reason for the organisations which engage limited company contractors to panic. Businesses can continue to engage contractors outside of IR35 -- provided those decisions are based on sound processes, and contractors engaged by small businesses can continue to legitimately do so outside the clutches of this complex and controversial legislation governing IR35 status.