HMRC's obsession with contractors

[HairyArsedBloke]

....
Ok – to the guys who are saying they are happy they are out of the game – I don’t understand, if you are a permie and have a decent wages, then the employer would charge you full taxes anyway, so our worst scenario would be to equate a contractor to an employee taxes, only we have the choice to get out of the situation!! Am I missing anything?

I was a contractor, but now major owner of a company providing services in the form of output from a financial model and a few other things. Company incorporated and operated abroad with customers thought the world. I am now non-resident in the UK.

[PAH]

Is it a proven fact that closure of a limited company stops or seriously degrades HMRC's ability or desire to persue IR35 for contracts conducted through that company?

Also, is it proven that doing this can also be negative, in that you're more likely to catch their eye by using different companies every 2-3 years?

It's already harder to get VAT status isn't it, compared to 4 or 5 years ago?

[PAH]

I am now non-resident in the UK.

I'll soon be non-resident full stop. With the advent of internet services for almost everything, and forwarding addresses where they scan in and email correspondence, I can finally become a virtual version of myself, who only materialises at the client site.

Try catching me then you HMRC scum.

[TheFaQQer]

That must explain why so many Government IT projects end in disastrous failure - When something needs doing they hire a bunch of typists (monkeys on typewriters most likely).

[VectraMan]

I agree. Working through a limited within IR35 puts you at a disadvantage compared with a permie being paid the same. .

That's silly. Somebody has to pay it. The "permie being paid the same" as you put it, isn't being paid the same, he's being paid ~13% more to allow for employer's NI. It doesn't matter if the client pays the 13% and we get less, or if we pay the 13%, it works out the same.

Contract rates are quoted before employer's NI, and permie rates are quoted after employer's NI. It doesn't mean one or the other pays less tax.

[malvolio]

You also miss the point. IR35 is not about you actually being an employee, it's about you being taxed as though you were. The financial liabilities are still all yours.

[SandyDown]

where's Denny?

[PAH]

where's Denny?

Building me an outside toilet. I miss them so much this time of year.


Edit: Actually, didn't she disappear about the same time as AtW? Anyone else not present and correct?

[Pinto]

where's Denny?

She's composing a contribution to this thread. Currently on page 7, so there's a while to go yet.

[Paddy]

All these news stories about new measures Hector is putting in place makes me wonder - why are contractors getting so much attention?

Don't they have other areas where they could try and close 'loopholes'.

Is it just because they think we're easier to come after than super rich and big businesses?

Hector is obsessed with IT contractors, why? Because big business ie: Outsourcing and Solutions Companies want it all their way. They have influence on the government and want independent IT contractors stamped out.

I have had various business in the past and none have them have been hounded by hector in the way that IT is. However some other businesses are hounded in different ways because of the influence of big business on government policy.