IR35 (Off-Payroll Working) Contractor Assessments

Welcome and introduction

Elizabeth Smith

Director of Research
Business Forums International Ltd. (BFI)

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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.

Aims and objectives

Back to basics – What is IR35?

Julia Kermode

Founder
IWORK.

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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.

• Where did IR35 come from
• What has changed
• What are your responsibilities

The supply chain

• Different engagement options
• Practical implications
• Minimising risks

Comfort break

IR35 Indicators

• Inside vs outside IR35
• The three main indicators
• ‘Other factors’ & why they are important

Assessing IR35

• Status determination statement
• Borderline cases
• Reasonable care
• Dispute resolution process

Comfort break

Understanding CEST and how to use It

• Who should do CEST tests?
• Record-keeping
• Shortcomings of CEST

HMRC Penalties & Investigations

• What happens if it goes wrong?
• Financial implications
• The ‘offset rule’

Getting it right from the outset

• Identifying and scoping resource need
• Advertising, negotiating and onboarding
• Implementing the contract

Discussion, Q&A

End of workshop