Help Needed - Intermediaries Legislation (IR35) Questionnaire

**NotAllThere** · 12 July 2018, 06:23

While Admin has indeed given you permission to post concerning your survey, you may not post it multiple times around the forums and hijack other discussions. This simply annoys people and will reduce the number of people who will provide helpful feedback.

I've deleted all your other posts, and moved this one to actually a more relevant part of the forum.

Edit: and now I've moved it back as one question asks whether you'd be tempted to move into the private sector. Clearly this survey is only for public sector contractors in the UK.

**Pat Phelan** · 12 July 2018, 07:51

Survey completed!
As admin says, only relevant if you are currently or recently in Public Sector....

**malvolio** · 12 July 2018, 08:27

Originally posted by Pat Phelan View Post

Survey completed!
As admin says, only relevant if you are currently or recently in Public Sector....

In which case it's not actually IR35 at all, but the new Off Payroll taxation rules for organisations liable under the FOI laws...

Good to know our students are doing their research.

**NCOTBAC** · 12 July 2018, 08:36

Originally posted by malvolio View Post

In which case it's not actually IR35 at all, but the new Off Payroll taxation rules for organisations liable under the FOI laws...

Good to know our students are doing their research.

Indeed. I did think for someone doing an accounting qualification and focusing on IR35 I thought the questions were very generic and didn't go in to any level of detail. The fist page was all about the person rather than IR35. Seems to me more about the demographics of who's caught rather than the detail of IR35.

**Lance** · 12 July 2018, 09:27

Originally posted by NCOTBAC View Post

Indeed. I did think for someone doing an accounting qualification and focusing on IR35 I thought the questions were very generic and didn't go in to any level of detail. The fist page was all about the person rather than IR35. Seems to me more about the demographics of who's caught rather than the detail of IR35.

The first page was just boring standard questions.

Not sure what the OP aims to get from this questionnaire, other than a tick in the box for getting some data and writing an interpretation.
It ain't going to be ground-breaking. But I suppose the University's have to come up with something to justify a BA in Accountancy of all things?£"£$"£$"!"£

Isn't accountancy a professional qualification where you get a job and pass exams whilst you learn? ACCA, CIMA etc.....
So a BA degree seems pretty pointless. Although I'm sure the University are happy with £27k..

To the OP. I'm not having a go at you, but I do feel that higher education in this country has gone to pot over the last few decades (for most of the institutions anyway), and pointless degrees just don't help. Although I appreciate it helps to get a job if you have a degree and paying £27k for it shows a level of commitment most employers would be glad of... But it's just not right.

Anyway. Good luck. If you're in the 3rd year then you're going to pass I'm sure. Just hope it's not a Douglas.

**DeludedKitten** · 12 July 2018, 10:11

Originally posted by Lance View Post

Isn't accountancy a professional qualification where you get a job and pass exams whilst you learn? ACCA, CIMA etc.....
So a BA degree seems pretty pointless. Although I'm sure the University are happy with £27k..

If you do accountancy at university then it counts towards your professional qualifications as well - you don't have as much to learn afterwards and therefore start at an advantage. Likewise, one can become a lawyer without a law degree in the UK, but having a degree in the subject helps you towards the vital qualifications that you do need to practice.

I studied accountancy as part of my management degree (graduated 20 years ago) - if I'd wanted to do more accountancy options in my later years then I would have been well on the way to the other qualifications that I would need to do that (one of the key things I learned was that I was definitely never going to be an accountant because I could never get things to balance). Similarly, I studied law as part of my degree - if I'd wanted to do more law options in later years then I would have been well on the way to getting the further qualifications that I would need to be a lawyer, without having an LLB.

**SueEllen** · 12 July 2018, 12:13

Originally posted by Lance View Post

The first page was just boring standard questions.

Not sure what the OP aims to get from this questionnaire, other than a tick in the box for getting some data and writing an interpretation.
It ain't going to be ground-breaking. But I suppose the University's have to come up with something to justify a BA in Accountancy of all things?£"£$"£$"!"£

Isn't accountancy a professional qualification where you get a job and pass exams whilst you learn? ACCA, CIMA etc.....
So a BA degree seems pretty pointless. Although I'm sure the University are happy with £27k..

To the OP. I'm not having a go at you, but I do feel that higher education in this country has gone to pot over the last few decades (for most of the institutions anyway), and pointless degrees just don't help. Although I appreciate it helps to get a job if you have a degree and paying £27k for it shows a level of commitment most employers would be glad of... But it's just not right.

Anyway. Good luck. If you're in the 3rd year then you're going to pass I'm sure. Just hope it's not a Douglas.

Accountancy degrees have been around for decades e.g. before students had to pay fees. Most people tended not to do them as the focus was too narrow and they knew that if they wanted to be an accountant later on they would have to more professional exams. However it is still a degree and counts for organisations where any degree subject will do to get on a graduate scheme.

**Cirrus** · 12 July 2018, 12:56

I know she isn't doing a degree at a university. (It's not even a polytechnic. It's some college in Blackburn) However the whole point of going to university is not to teach you stuff but rather to teach you how to think.

Step 1 is to set out what you hope to achieve in the context of what is already known about this area of human knowledge. I just looked at the form and it just jumps straight into asking questions, questions which do not seem at all germane (although as we have absolutely no idea what she thinks she's doing, it's difficult to say for certain). It also has another nasty characteristic - potential garden-pathing. You can't see what the other pages are asking until you move off the first page. It needs to let you know what this is all about and whether you want to participate, or even whether it is relevant to you.

Obviously I would say steer clear of this. Kelly needs to talk this through with her tutor to develop it into something fit-for-purpose (although I have to say Blackburn is not the place I would put money on as a centre of learning).

More than this I would reflect how so many people with this undeveloped critical thinking go on to gain positions of influence. My questionnaire would be:

Of projects you have participated in, what percentage have defined a solution before they've really thought through a) what they want to achieve and b) what other relevant experiences can feed into this project:

a) 98%
b) 99%
c) 100%

**DeludedKitten** · 12 July 2018, 13:37

Originally posted by Cirrus View Post

I know she isn't doing a degree at a university. (It's not even a polytechnic. It's some college in Blackburn)

Which runs degree programmes for Lancaster University, in the same way that many colleges have done for universities for decades (my sister has a degree from Leeds but studied at North Riding College in the 80s and early 90s, for example; I worked with someone with a degree from Brunel but studied at Bucks College in the 80s).

Times HE ranks Lancaster 150th in the world - https://www.timeshighereducation.com...ter-university

The degree programme has to be validated, moderated, and assessed by Lancaster before being awarded.

Help Needed - Intermediaries Legislation (IR35) Questionnaire