What outside IR35 means
An outside IR35 contract is one where the engagement, looked at as a whole, is genuine self-employment. You work through your own limited company, invoice for your time and are paid gross: the company pays corporation tax, and you decide how to draw the rest, typically as a mix of salary and dividends. In short, you are taxed as a business, not as an employee.
Status is decided role by role, never by job title. Where the end client is a medium or large organisation, the client must assess each engagement and issue a Status Determination Statement; where the client is small, the responsibility stays with your own company. The same skills can be outside IR35 on one engagement and inside on the next, and a determination can change at renewal if the working practices change.
The IR35 position shown on our board is stated by the recruiter or employer advertising the role. We label every listing with that stated status so you can filter on it, but it is not a substitute for your own checks: read the contract, look at the working practices, and take professional advice if the position is unclear. Nothing on this page is tax advice.
Start with our guide to what IR35 is and how the rules work.
Day rates: outside vs inside
Advertised day rates usually differ between inside and outside roles, and the headline rate alone can mislead. Outside IR35, your company is paid gross and keeps responsibility for tax, so more of the rate typically reaches you — but you also carry the costs of running a company, your own insurances, and no paid holiday or sick pay. Inside IR35, tax and National Insurance are deducted before you are paid, usually through an umbrella company, so a higher headline rate can still leave less in your pocket.
That is why comparing a £500 outside role with a £550 inside one is never as simple as the £50 gap. Run the numbers on the actual rate:
our IR35 tax calculator estimates take-home pay working outside IR35 through your own company, and the umbrella company take-home calculator shows the inside picture for the same rate. Every listing on this board with a usable day rate also shows a quick take-home estimate on the card.
If a role you want turns out to be inside IR35, it is not automatically a bad contract — it is a different net position. Know the number before you negotiate.