IPSE or Qdos or Big Group or keep the money in the bank

[BrilloPad]

Many thanks again.... I shall be reading some threads I think

No point. Just ask your question and NLUK is happy to respond.

I like QDOS.

[heyya99]

Fully comp' IR35 insurance confuses me. If I can get my fees and potential recoverable tax covered by an insurance company, surely that means I can work as if IR35 never existed, if I'm never hurt financially.

[TheFaQQer]

Fully comp' IR35 insurance confuses me. If I can get my fees and potential recoverable tax covered by an insurance company, surely that means I can work as if IR35 never existed, if I'm never hurt financially.

The IR35 protection market could get interesting after the review of IR35 is complete.

[Contreras]

For me it's money in the bank.

BUT... that depends on having the discipline to engage a professional when the brown envelope hits the mat and not be tempted to go it alone, and the discipline to keep a fighting fund to pay that professional.

Reckoning on the cost of defence being somewhere between £2k and £20k. Bottom end being with all the IR35 ducks in a row and the case being kicked into touch before it gets started. Top end being if you or your accountant are silly enough to take on HMRC alone.

[BolshieBastard]

Fully comp' IR35 insurance confuses me. If I can get my fees and potential recoverable tax covered by an insurance company, surely that means I can work as if IR35 never existed, if I'm never hurt financially.

Surprisingly, although HMRC have in the past thrown a lot of their limited resources at IR35, they've won very few investigations. And that's despite having more than a helping hand from some client's HR Departments!

So, they want the Government to shift the goalposts to make it easier to deem most contractors IR35 caught.

If they manage this, Id expect the insurance providers to bail out of the sector.

[TheFaQQer]

Reckoning on the cost of defence being somewhere between £2k and £20k. Bottom end being with all the IR35 ducks in a row and the case being kicked into touch before it gets started. Top end being if you or your accountant are silly enough to take on HMRC alone.

The last lot of research / information I read estimated the cost of an IR35 investigation at an average of £15k. And you'd be crazy to go it alone - that's where the losses have mainly come from.

But for £15k, you can get a lot of insurance cover, or a mere 60 years of IPSE membership (plus the other benefits that you get from being a member).

[BolshieBastard]

The last lot of research / information I read estimated the cost of an IR35 investigation at an average of £15k. And you'd be crazy to go it alone - that's where the losses have mainly come from.

But for £15k, you can get a lot of insurance cover, or a mere 60 years of IPSE membership (plus the other benefits that you get from being a member).

Yeah that PCG IPSE membership fee, that'll be the group who said 'dont worry about IR35 now boys, we've got the tories on side now' would it?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Fully comp' IR35 insurance confuses me. If I can get my fees and potential recoverable tax covered by an insurance company, surely that means I can work as if IR35 never existed, if I'm never hurt financially.

I am not 100% sure but I don't think you can insure against taxed owed - you can get insurance to cover legal costs etc but, if it's proved that your status was incorrectly declared and tax is due , I don't think you'll find a policy to cover it otherwise, as you say, everyone would work outside IR35 regardless of their actual status.

[Contreras]

But for £15k, you can get a lot of insurance cover, ...

Yep. Which would say a lot about the odds of ever needing it.

I've heard the same figure quoted at PCG events by Abbey Tax and in the context of giving membership the hard sell... The £2k 'best-case' figure was inferred from B&C's website and assumes that HMRC accept the technical arguments and it doesn't go to tribunal.

[jamesbrown]

I am not 100% sure but I don't think you can insure against taxed owed - you can get insurance to cover legal costs etc but, if it's proved that your status was incorrectly declared and tax is due , I don't think you'll find a policy to cover it otherwise, as you say, everyone would work outside IR35 regardless of their actual status.

No, you can indeed get tax loss cover from various providers. You can get insurance for pretty much anything that allows the provider to make a profit. Until now, the risks have been absolutely minimal, so the value of that insurance is questionable. Standard IPSE membership covers professional fees. The insurance is generally (although perhaps not always) provided on the basis of a contract review.