To anyone who's carrying outside post 6th April

[dsc]

Just curious if you are doing so simply carrying on on an existing contract or signing an extension / new contract from beginning of April?

I'm delivering a large project for a fairly large US / UK company, around 40% of their workforce in this particular office are contractors. It's rather niche skills with security clearance on top, so they want to keep everyone as otherwise things will fall apart and they already have a tulip ton of delays on multiple projects. Found out today that their plan is to just hand out new bulletproof outside IR35 contracts come April, which sounds OK initially but also kind of wrong as the SDS will be for a new contract which kind of means the old was crap and not good enough...then again it is outside, so maybe I'm just plain paranoid?

I reckon carrying on past 6th April on the same contract deemed outside is best as it proves you've been outside all the time. Isn't handing out a new "improved" ones in April kind of highlighting that all wasn't so great before?

FYI had mine checked by Qdos and it is outside, also been told they chucked my details into CEST and it also says outside. Current extension runs till end of March as this is when the job was supposed to finish, but there's further delays due to defects and extra requirements, so they already told me they need my services for longer.

[BR14]

so, your question is?

[northernladuk]

I'm pretty sure there are many different reasons why people have carried on and many different engagements. The mix of questions we've had should tell you that. Bit of a simplistic question so don't know what you are expecting to deduce from the answer.

[BR14]

I'm pretty sure there are many different reasons why people have carried on and many different engagements. The mix of questions we've had should tell you that. Bit of a simplistic question so don't know what you are expecting to deduce from the answer.

simplistic? there're five different questions in that post.

[ladymuck]

I'm proceeding on the basis that I don't have a contract after 5 April. Deadlines for decisions have come and gone and I am none the wiser so I am a actively looking for work elsewhere.

If ClientCo want me they know where I am. Undecided whether I share with them that the consultancy has a 20% mark up on my rate but their in-house recruitment firm only charges 7%

[WordIsBond]

No, I would not say carrying on outside with a new contract says anything about you being inside before.

You had a contract renewal end of March. Lots of people have contract renewals. Terms are a little different? "Yeah, client always believed we were outside but wanted to tighten things up just a little more just to make sure HMRC wouldn't even question it." End of story.

There's going to be at least 50 very large clients making at least some outside determinations (including yours), and at least 50K contractors who are going from outside to some form of inside / PAYE. They are more likely to be targeted than your historical contract.

Besides, what are you going to do about it? The client is making changes to protect themselves, but they are still offering you an outside determination. If you make waves, there's about 50K contractors who are going from outside to some form of inside / PAYE who would love to take your place. They might prefer keeping you but they'll have their pick of a lot of good candidates if you ask them to keep the old contract that they thought held some risks for them.

[jamesbrown]

You're overthinking this IMHO. Accept the new contract. You were outside before, as evidenced (ahem) and you're still outside. The contractual terms are just window dressing anyway. What matters is the reality of the working practices, and they will probably remain the same or similar. This is basically a win-win for you. At worst, you're going to be treated more like a business and the liability going forward is on them, not you. Happy days.

[Paralytic]

You've been here a while so I'm sure you'll have realised by now that a number of people that post here seem to take great delight in telling others that, no matter what they do, the tax-man is going to come after them for previous years taxes.

No-one knows for sure what will happen, so it really is down to your own appetite to risk.

If I was in your situation, I'd see the risk as low and would accept the new contract and not worry.

[eek]

You've been here a while so I'm sure you'll have realised by now that a number of people that post here seem to take great delight in telling others that, no matter what they do, the tax-man is going to come after them for previous years taxes.

No-one knows for sure what will happen, so it really is down to your own appetite to risk.

If I was in your situation, I'd see the risk as low and would accept the new contract and not worry.

Umm, who exactly are you directing your point at?

DSC has a extension that to all intents and purposes seems perfect, end client is happy to have outside IR35 contractors and the end client as of April is taking the risk.

he really would be the least likely person to be hit as even if HMRC did ask for money everyone (client, agency and contractor) will all continually be singing from the same hymn sheet

yes there are a lot of cynical people in this forum, but we aren’t woe is me. We just want people to know the risk and hopefully the amount of money that’s at stake

[LondonManc]

You're overthinking this. If your old contract was confirmed as outside IR35 and it was your determination then hopefully you've gathered evidence to support this. If your new contract is (even further) outside IR35 and it is ClientCo's determination then you're in a very lucky position compared to many, certainly compared to other specialists who've been lumped in with the genuine disguised permies.