Regardless of the raft of tax hikes launched this month, on the two-year anniversary of personal sector IR35 reform, the laws nonetheless tops contractors’ issues

The arrival of the 2023/24 tax yr and with it an array of tax will increase impacting freelancers and contractors doesn’t detract from the truth that the IR35 laws stays these employees’ stand-out concern, analysis from IR35 specialist Qdos reveals.

Regardless of the rise to Company Tax (growing from 19 to 25%), the discount of the additional-rate revenue tax threshold (from £150,000 all the way down to £125,140) and the slashing of the tax-free dividend allowance (£2000 all the way down to £1000), the IR35 guidelines are nonetheless thought of by contractors as the largest risk to their enterprise.

Multiple in three of greater than 700 contractors surveyed by Qdos view IR35 as the difficulty which has essentially the most potential to impression their enterprise negatively. That is forward of issues over the price of residing and the raft of tax will increase launched for the 2023/24 tax yr (25%).

Reform to the IR35 guidelines had been launched within the public sector in 2017 and within the personal sector in 2021. The modifications noticed freelancers’ purchasers turn out to be chargeable for figuring out these employees’ tax standing, until the freelancer is engaged by a small firm.

In final yr’s Mini-Price range, it was introduced that the off-payroll working guidelines could be repealed efficient from 2023/24 tax yr, earlier than the newly appointed Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt reversed this resolution. Simply 7% of contractors surveyed by Qdos are ‘assured’ that the reform can be repealed in future. 43% are ‘by no means’ assured and 39% are ‘not very assured’.

On the two-year anniversary of the roll out of reform within the personal sector – and 6 years because the modifications had been enforced within the public sector – Qdos CEO, Seb Maley stated: “The tax burden on the UK’s smallest companies is spiralling but it’s IR35 which worries freelancers and contractors most – that is saying one thing. The federal government’s heavy-handed manner of tackling IR35 compliance has understandably put freelancers and their purchasers on edge.

“HMRC has a scattergun strategy to IR35 compliance, pursuing instances for years just for it to be discovered that the freelancer has performed nothing mistaken. Take Gary Lineker, who HMRC wrongly believed owed £4.9m in tax. The identical goes for Adrian Chiles, who had a £1.7m IR35 invoice hanging over his head.

“With the off-payroll guidelines in drive, HMRC is ramping up its compliance exercise amongst companies. And if the tax workplace’s policing of IR35 amongst freelancers and contractors is something to go by, compliance should stay a precedence for organisations partaking these versatile employees.”