IR35 (Off-Payroll Working) 2025 - A Crucial Update
A comprehensive guide to off-payroll working rules (IR35) for employers in 2025
Time: 09:30 - 13:00
Cost per attendee: £275 + VAT per attendee
- Thursday, 20th March '25
(If you can't attend the live event, we can send a link post event to watch the recording. Cost: £225 +VAT - please contact registrations@bfi.co.uk)
Keeping you abreast of changes to IR35 Tax Offset Rules
With over a decade's worth of IR35 training under our belts nobody is better poised to update UK employers on the latest changes impacting those employing contract and temporary workers. With the proposed extensions to employment rights across the gig economy and the self-employed workforce.
74% of employers we surveyed said understanding IR35 made recruiting off-payroll staff too complex - BFI research
An intensive information-packed half day led by an unparalleled speaker panel addressing upcoming and potential changes, updates and timelines. Ensure you remain abreast of all the latest developments and get solid, practical advice from our experts.
Find out:
- Latest changes to laws around unfair dismissal, redundancy pay and SSP
- How self-employed workers rights will change and how to prepare
- How to avoid fines or potential liabilities
- Where the key risks are and how to avoid them
- The latest case studies and understand the resolution process
- What are the implications for international workers and how to remain compliant in challenging jurisdictions
Who should attend this IR35 online conference?
Time-challenged delegates with some experience of IR35 policy, compliance and practice who need an intensive update. Those who have attended our previous courses and are looking for an efficient refresher. Talent Acquisition professionals and experienced HR and payroll practitioners looking to update policy and practice.
DELEGATE FEEDBACK
“Excellent speakers”
“Comprehensive and useful information presented throughout the day”
Test your Zoom access ahead of the event:
Platform: Zoom - An encrypted zoom platform with password access:
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Which functions will benefit from attending
- HR, RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING, TEMPORARY & AGENCY RESOURCING, LEGAL, TRAINING, COMPLIANCE AND AUDIT, ADMINISTRATION, STRATEGY, POLICY, OPERATIONS, LINE MANAGERS AND ALL DIRECTORS AND STAFF WITH RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THIS AREA
Hear from
Schedule
Introduction and welcome
Elizabeth Smith
Director of Research , Business Forums International Ltd. (BFI)
Elizabeth is director of research and a founding co-director at Business Forums International. She is responsible for all programme content and writing, and researches current areas of interest for senior HR professionals in large organisations. BFI is the UK’s leading HR risk specialist conference and training provider, delivering key and timely information to over 3,000 delegates a year both through public and in-house training courses. Before founding BFI in 1996, Elizabeth specialised in researching corporate financial programmes in Asia and the Middle East, based in Dubai. She also worked in advertising and publishing in the Middle East and London. Elizabeth was educated in the West Indies, Saudi Arabia and Belgium before reading Modern Languages at Durham University. She is currently developing an online training course for line managers to raise awareness of menopause symptoms and ways that employers can work to make their workplaces more inclusive.
Overview and updates
- Determining responsibility within your organisation
- Off-payroll: navigating the minefield
- Supply chain essentials
- Limiting HMRC fine risks
Recruitment update
Colin Morley
Director , Hays Technology
Colin has 24 years of experience of delivering workforce solutions across the UK, Ireland, Europe and America. Colin has architected and delivered scalable services and products to private, non-for-profit and public sector organisations from delivery functions onshore, nearshore and offshore. Colin has a particular specialism in contingent workforce legislation and helping his clients to procure more sophisticated outcome based solutions.
- Best practice on determinations
- Dealing with long contractor engagements
- Where should the responsibility lie?
- Differences between SOW and Resource Augmentation
Comfort break
Umbrella companies: An essential checklist
Julia Kermode
Founder , IWORK.
Julia Kermode, Contingent Workforce Expert, IWORK Julia is a contingent workforce expert on a mission to safeguard workers, empower them and ensure they are treated fairly. She has spent the last decade deeply ensconced within the world of contingent work, tax legislation, employment rights, worker rights, umbrellas and the wider recruitment sector. It's niche, and she loves this space! Julia is founder of IWORK (www.iwork.co.uk), which exists to prevent contingent workers being exploited through being unaware of tax regulations and other relevant legislation. IWORK helps to expose dubious practices that mistreat or profiteer from contingent workers, such as holiday pay retention (immoral but not illegal), payroll skimming, bribery and corruption. Julia actively champions contingent working, and lobbies the government for fair legislation on issues such as tax avoidance, disguised remuneration, loan charge, employment status, IR35/off-payroll and the gig economy. Prior to IWORK, Julia spent 7 years as CEO of FCSA, a compliance accreditation body for accountants and umbrella companies. Here she led unprecedented growth, successfully transforming the organisation from obscurity to being the ubiquitous go-to compliance requirement for the supply of temporary workers. Julia also spearheaded FCSA’s influence within the government, and raised standards within the often-misunderstood umbrella sector. Julia is very well-respected in the contracting industry, passionate and good at what she does. She is also a contractor herself, providing consultancy services to advise and support businesses in how they engage contingent workers.
- Current and future updates: timeline and checklist
- Shaping placements inside and out: key steps
- Umbrella companies update: are you compliant?
- Blanket decisions – public and private sector considerations
- Know your contracts: key questions
- Understanding SDS
- The roles and risks of umbrella companies
Tax rulings 2025, implications for employers
- Recent NIC changes
- Mandatory payrolling of benefits from 6 April 2026 – should employers consider early adoption?
- Employers and internationally mobile employees – potential impact of changes for non-domiciled individuals (non-dom)
- Increase in National Minimum Wage rates – HMRC activity and what we may expect to see under the new labour government
- High Income Child benefit charge – whilst not a direct impact on employers, employees may well ask their employers for advice/information
Comfort break
IR35: Ensuring your IR35/Off-payroll compliance
Rebecca Seeley Harris, LLB (Hons) LLM MSc
Employment Status, Off-payroll & IR35 Expert
Re Legal Consulting Ltd
Rebecca Seeley Harris, LLB (Hons) LLM MSc
Employment Status, Off-payroll & IR35 Expert , Re Legal Consulting Ltd
Rebecca is a leading expert and thought leader on employment status, off-payroll working and IR35 and is the author of CEST Explained. Recently she won the Contracting Industry Influencer of the Year 2023 and last year won the FSB Self-employed Sole Trader of the Year. She was also shortlisted for Outstanding Contribution to Taxation 2020-21 in the Tolley’s Taxation Awards for her campaigning work during the Covid pandemic. Rebecca set up her legal consultancy, Re Legal Consulting Ltd, when the Inland Revenue brought in the IR35 tax initiative some 23 years ago. Since then Rebecca has specialised on IR35, off-payroll working and the employment and tax status of the self-employed and personal service companies. She works with clients nationally and internationally, the private and the public sector, with representative organisations and government. Rebecca was seconded to the Office of Tax Simplification (an independent body of HM Treasury) as a Senior Policy Adviser to advise the government on employment and tax status. Reporting direct to the Chancellor, Rebecca was part of a small team of experts who drafted the Employment Status Review 2015 and the Small Company Taxation review [2016] leading on the taxation of nano companies and the self-employed. Rebecca developed the concept of SEPA, providing a vehicle to the self-employed to be able to protect the family home. Rebecca was also a representative on the Cross-Government Working Group on Employment Status and also published the review into the taxation of the Gig Economy. She is a member of the Tax Faculty of the ICAEW and is a consultant to the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG) and Urgent Health UK, amongst others. She has recently written a book called CEST Explained which, as the title suggests, explains HMRC’s digital tool Check Employment Status for Tax. Rebecca is often quoted in the press including the Financial Times, the Telegraph and the Times amongst others. She also contributes to the professional press and writes articles on employment status. Rebecca has most recently started a campaign for the regulation of umbrella companies and the protection of umbrella company workers. She does this voluntarily by drafting policy documents for the government to use to bring forward legislation.
- Protecting yourself
- Guidance versus the law
- Working with CEST
- HMRC How to Comply
- Tax Tribunals – an overview
- Best practice
- PGMOL judgement