A new way forward – post IR35 reform

IR35 – Certes Solutions

Following the much anticipated reforms to IR35 in the public sector, as implemented through the off payroll changes (IR35) part 2 income tax (earnings and pensions) act 2003, we have been consulting with clients to advise the best way forward, and have been actively working on a range of solutions to support organisations who are finding themselves caught in the new regulations.

The Government confirmed in the Autumn Statement 2016 that it intends to go ahead with the proposed changes to IR35, as from 6th April 2017. All contracts which are considered to be “inside IR35” will need to be under a compliant arrangement, in line with the changes from this date.

Please see the Guidance last updated on 11th March 2017 – for individuals paid through PSCs.

Our message to Public sector organisations affected by this is that we remain dedicated and focused on the continued supply of our PSC Contractors and those Contractors represented by Umbrella companies from 6th April onwards. But we also want to make it clear that we have developed an Outsourced Model, centred around outcome based services, Statement of Work, or Work Packages. We can offer assurance that the nature of these solutions based agreements falls outside of the intermediaries legislation following the use of the HMRC tool. To date, many of our existing clients have found this approach to be exactly what they need for immediate and swift solution to the imposed IR35 changes and are in the process of transferring Certes’ incumbent contractors to this new Outcome based service. A number of these clients are also including the migration of other PSC contractors to our service, especially those seen to be critical to the organisation.

Through the course of our consultation with our clients, we have seen a high proportion of existing contracts that have not required any changes,  reaching the conclusion that the intermediaries legislation does not apply, as well as some being found to be inside the new legislation. Of course, the outcome is based very much on the specific working practises with the client, and not only the terms and conditions of a contract.

If you remain unsure about the status of your existing intermediary engagements our Public Sector team we will be pleased to meet and discuss the use and completion of the HMRC’s Employment Status Service online tool, to establish the nature of each individual agreement and of course to offer advice about our new solutions. The tool can be found here.

 

Please contact our Public sector team today if you need advice, guidance or examples of successful transitions, on 01675 468968.