What to do if classified 'inside'?

[northernladuk]

I did consider leaving before the determination but I heard that they were going to do an individual assessment and not just do a blanket ban so I honestly thought there was a chance i’d be deemed outside. And as I like working for the client I waited. Not to be though so I have a decision to make.

Thanks all for your views.

If other people leave that do something similar but not the same there is the option of staying with the client and doing something different.

[pacontracting]

My client has come back with my status determination as being inside. This has happened now and there's nothing I can do about it.

What's the best move I can take now?

1) Go permie with the same client
2) PAYE umbrella for same client
3) Go contract inside with different client

Now that the horse has bolted and I have that inside determination after having worked as if I was outside (and with contract reviews to back this up) for a while, is it really minimising my risk of an investigation if I go and contract with another client? Surely they can still investigate me for the discrepancy between my current client's and my determinations for the last 2 years?

And if I stay with the current client, is it less risk to go permie given that there will then be a major change of contract.?

I'm really not sure what to do to lessen the risk of a retrospective investigation...

There are lots of if and buts but nobody knows what is going to happen. Certainly, for many people, the 'contractor' lifestyle is going to come up for discussion and different people will go different directions, depending on their age, financial position and so on.

Whatever the philosophical reasons (did my client assess me wrongly, will I get restropsectively investigated etc) you need to look at your skillset and decide if:

a) Your skillset is unique and you are able to provie a service to clients who will deem your role outside IR35. This is likely to be assignments where the client believes IR35 can't possibly apply due to various factors.
b) You like moving between different clients. You prefer short term assignments but your skillset doesn't warrant a) bove - take an inside IR35 assignment via your PSC or become a perm agency temp.
c) neither a) nor b), you were in it for the money but now want to take a permy job.

In your case, your role is deemed inside IR35, so IF your client is audited, it's likely HMRC will come after you for back taxes and you need to have good evidence for the descrepency between your assessment and your client.

A lot of clients, particuarly in the banking sector, are not doing the assessmnt, and are simply banning PSC's for now. So you need to arm yourself with the facts, assess your appetite for risk, take a look at your skillset and make a choice.