Well, it isn't great news, but not terrible news.
My agency has just issued guidance on the new Public Sector contracting rules:
Good Afternoon
As previously communicated, following a review in May this year the government introduced new legislation which requires government departments and their Arms’ Length Bodies to provide assurance that any ‘off-payroll workers’, including Limited Company Contractors, are meeting their HMRC tax obligations.
The new legislation applies to any contracts of more than 6 months’ duration and to all ‘off-payroll workers’ who are paid £220 per day or more. As you may be aware the ******* have been offering contracts of less than 26 weeks’ duration in order to achieve immediate compliance with the legislation.
The ********* is now aligning its contracts, as are all of our other public sector clients; to have the new legislation adhered to in a timely yet considered manner. **** and **** have worked closely with the Envi******** to establish an efficient process to provide the necessary assurance that Limited Company Contractor’s tax obligations are met, with every effort being made to try to minimise the impact of these new terms and conditions.
In order for the ******** to provide assurance that their ‘off-payroll workers’ are meeting their HMRC tax obligations you are required to do the following things;
1) Undertake a Business Entity Test and provide ***** with the result/score once complete – please see attached guidance.
· * The level of assurance which you may be required to provide will be dependent on your ‘Business Entity Test score’ and ‘risk category’. The outputs of your test and any potential impact will be discussed with you on an individual basis.
2) Sign a revised ******** Contract
Please find attached a copy of the revised ********* Contractor Terms & Conditions which is being utilised by both ***** and ****** for the entire contractor workforce. We are issuing these terms allowing 28 days for you to review and sign up to these new terms. If you decide not to agree to the revised terms, our only option will be to exercise our rights under the existing terms and conditions to terminate the engagement. The exact timing of the notice to terminate and the notice period to be applied will be at our discretion but it is anticipated termination will occur within 2 months of your decision not to sign up to the revised terms and conditions.
Every attempt has been made to minimise the impact of the revised terms. Due to the substantial review undertaken, The **************** will not accept any further changes to the proposed terms as they are deemed fit for purpose. Please confirm your acceptance to us in writing to _________ no later than Monday 19th November at 10:00am.
We will email again on an individual basis tomorrow afternoon providing you with a personalised contract – from there we will contact you over the coming days to ensure you are in receipt of both emails and to answer any questions you may have.
It effectively states if you are inside IR35, then you have to up your game tax wise, otherwise you're ok. The business entity tests are quite painful. Luckily, for me, I have my own office, my own insurance, have more than one revenue stream and I employ someone, so I come out as extremely low risk. But you have to think this is either going to kill contracting in the public sector, or raise rates.... I know which I think.
Without sounding trite, if you are caught up by this, then write to your MP.
For those who wish to discuss this. PM me. I have a large office I am willing to rent out hot desks for a small amount of money each year. You will have to attend more than once or twice a year and work from it, but it's an easy way to gain 10 points, then pay for your own PLI and you have anotehr 10 points. That's 20 and makes you medium risk. Spend £1200 on advertising and you're out of the IR35 woods.
My agency has just issued guidance on the new Public Sector contracting rules:
Good Afternoon
As previously communicated, following a review in May this year the government introduced new legislation which requires government departments and their Arms’ Length Bodies to provide assurance that any ‘off-payroll workers’, including Limited Company Contractors, are meeting their HMRC tax obligations.
The new legislation applies to any contracts of more than 6 months’ duration and to all ‘off-payroll workers’ who are paid £220 per day or more. As you may be aware the ******* have been offering contracts of less than 26 weeks’ duration in order to achieve immediate compliance with the legislation.
The ********* is now aligning its contracts, as are all of our other public sector clients; to have the new legislation adhered to in a timely yet considered manner. **** and **** have worked closely with the Envi******** to establish an efficient process to provide the necessary assurance that Limited Company Contractor’s tax obligations are met, with every effort being made to try to minimise the impact of these new terms and conditions.
In order for the ******** to provide assurance that their ‘off-payroll workers’ are meeting their HMRC tax obligations you are required to do the following things;
1) Undertake a Business Entity Test and provide ***** with the result/score once complete – please see attached guidance.
· * The level of assurance which you may be required to provide will be dependent on your ‘Business Entity Test score’ and ‘risk category’. The outputs of your test and any potential impact will be discussed with you on an individual basis.
2) Sign a revised ******** Contract
Please find attached a copy of the revised ********* Contractor Terms & Conditions which is being utilised by both ***** and ****** for the entire contractor workforce. We are issuing these terms allowing 28 days for you to review and sign up to these new terms. If you decide not to agree to the revised terms, our only option will be to exercise our rights under the existing terms and conditions to terminate the engagement. The exact timing of the notice to terminate and the notice period to be applied will be at our discretion but it is anticipated termination will occur within 2 months of your decision not to sign up to the revised terms and conditions.
Every attempt has been made to minimise the impact of the revised terms. Due to the substantial review undertaken, The **************** will not accept any further changes to the proposed terms as they are deemed fit for purpose. Please confirm your acceptance to us in writing to _________ no later than Monday 19th November at 10:00am.
We will email again on an individual basis tomorrow afternoon providing you with a personalised contract – from there we will contact you over the coming days to ensure you are in receipt of both emails and to answer any questions you may have.
It effectively states if you are inside IR35, then you have to up your game tax wise, otherwise you're ok. The business entity tests are quite painful. Luckily, for me, I have my own office, my own insurance, have more than one revenue stream and I employ someone, so I come out as extremely low risk. But you have to think this is either going to kill contracting in the public sector, or raise rates.... I know which I think.
Without sounding trite, if you are caught up by this, then write to your MP.
For those who wish to discuss this. PM me. I have a large office I am willing to rent out hot desks for a small amount of money each year. You will have to attend more than once or twice a year and work from it, but it's an easy way to gain 10 points, then pay for your own PLI and you have anotehr 10 points. That's 20 and makes you medium risk. Spend £1200 on advertising and you're out of the IR35 woods.
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