here https://www.pcg.org.uk/news-events/n...E2%80%99-rules
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PCG responds to Danny Alexander on ‘off payroll’ rules
Following the Government review of ‘off-payroll’ working in Public Sector Departments, figures released by the Treasury today have shown that only a tiny minority of ‘off payroll’ workers do not pay the right amount of tax.
In a written statement to the House of Commons Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced that 94% of people (1,815 cases) were able to assure the Government Department at which they worked that they were paying tax correctly. The figures also reflect previous survey data compiled by PCG.
Responding to the figures, PCG Director of Policy and Public Affairs Simon McVicker said:
“Today’s announcement from the Treasury is conclusive proof that as we said from the beginning, starting a ‘witch hunt’ of contractors working in the public sector was wrong and unnecessary.
“With little or no information made available by the Government during the review, in many cases it was left to PCG to offer guidance to contractors, and indeed their clients, on how to meet the Government’s assurance requirements. It is regrettable that what should have been a quick and painless exercise became a long, drawn out process which caused innocent independent professionals to endure a very stressful six months.”
During the review process, PCG hosted a series of seminars for contractors in the public sector and published advice on its website to help freelancers meet the rules. According to PCG, it is reassuring to see that Danny Alexander has gone on record to acknowledge the vital importance of contractors to the successful delivery of public services by saying “These workers are playing an important role by satisfying short term needs for specialist advice and service.”
However, for Simon McVicker there is still real danger that the huge fines handed out to Departments who breached the rules - £398,000 in the case of the Department for Transport - could negatively impact on contractors and the vital work they are involved in:
“We hope that Government Departments do not look at the sanctions and react by misapplying the rules or applying them overzealously. The best way to avoid penalty while continuing to benefit from the considerable competitive advantage delivered by freelancers is to adopt a best practice approach to engagement.”
Given the importance of this best practice approach and the confusion caused by the Government review, PCG has offered an open invitation to any Public Sector Department who would like to tap into their expertise around engaging with contractors. It has also called for lessons to be learned as the assurance process is rolled out across the NHS. Simon McVicker said:
“We hope that the Government makes it clear to off-payroll workers what they need to do to provide assurance and we are willing to work with them, and the Departments, to do that. Otherwise there is a very real risk that genuine freelancers working outside of IR35 will be prevented from delivering vital projects to the NHS. Continued access to expert contractors is crucial to the future health of the NHS.”
text
PCG responds to Danny Alexander on ‘off payroll’ rules
Following the Government review of ‘off-payroll’ working in Public Sector Departments, figures released by the Treasury today have shown that only a tiny minority of ‘off payroll’ workers do not pay the right amount of tax.
In a written statement to the House of Commons Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced that 94% of people (1,815 cases) were able to assure the Government Department at which they worked that they were paying tax correctly. The figures also reflect previous survey data compiled by PCG.
Responding to the figures, PCG Director of Policy and Public Affairs Simon McVicker said:
“Today’s announcement from the Treasury is conclusive proof that as we said from the beginning, starting a ‘witch hunt’ of contractors working in the public sector was wrong and unnecessary.
“With little or no information made available by the Government during the review, in many cases it was left to PCG to offer guidance to contractors, and indeed their clients, on how to meet the Government’s assurance requirements. It is regrettable that what should have been a quick and painless exercise became a long, drawn out process which caused innocent independent professionals to endure a very stressful six months.”
During the review process, PCG hosted a series of seminars for contractors in the public sector and published advice on its website to help freelancers meet the rules. According to PCG, it is reassuring to see that Danny Alexander has gone on record to acknowledge the vital importance of contractors to the successful delivery of public services by saying “These workers are playing an important role by satisfying short term needs for specialist advice and service.”
However, for Simon McVicker there is still real danger that the huge fines handed out to Departments who breached the rules - £398,000 in the case of the Department for Transport - could negatively impact on contractors and the vital work they are involved in:
“We hope that Government Departments do not look at the sanctions and react by misapplying the rules or applying them overzealously. The best way to avoid penalty while continuing to benefit from the considerable competitive advantage delivered by freelancers is to adopt a best practice approach to engagement.”
Given the importance of this best practice approach and the confusion caused by the Government review, PCG has offered an open invitation to any Public Sector Department who would like to tap into their expertise around engaging with contractors. It has also called for lessons to be learned as the assurance process is rolled out across the NHS. Simon McVicker said:
“We hope that the Government makes it clear to off-payroll workers what they need to do to provide assurance and we are willing to work with them, and the Departments, to do that. Otherwise there is a very real risk that genuine freelancers working outside of IR35 will be prevented from delivering vital projects to the NHS. Continued access to expert contractors is crucial to the future health of the NHS.”
