How important are contract assessment

[DeludedKitten]

Undertaking a contract assessment is an indicator that you have undertaken due diligence to understand whether the role was inside IR35 or not, and therefore to enable the company to deduct the right level of taxes.

That might be important if you have an investigation and there is no money in the company to be able to pay any taxes, because HMRC could try to transfer the debt from the company to the individual if there has been a wilful intent to not deduct the correct amount.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Working practices can trump a contract - normally where the contract is deemed outside but the working practices are would make you inside.

However starting with a contract assessed as inside IR35 puts you on the back foot from the outset. It would be enough for HMRC to declare you inside based on your contract alone and would leave you needing to somehow show that you were not because of your working practices.

What were the main factors for the assessment?

[ladymuck]

Essentially, if the contract is outside then you 'just' need to back it up by showing the working practices match.

If the contract is inside then all the working practices in the world won't protect you.

[BR14]

obey the will of GoT
really.

[GhostofTarbera]

Contract assessment came back as INSIDE IR35, reading the full report in detail and there is this line:



They then go to say that working practices are more important, if that is the case why bother having a contract assessed in the first place?

Agency have agreed to change all the major points, but they are quibbling some of the minors, I get the impression possibly because they have had problems with the assessors in the past!

Just ignore the assessment, carry on as normal


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[BolshieBastard]

[InsertWittyNameHere555]

Contract assessment came back as INSIDE IR35, reading the full report in detail and there is this line:

Please note that our opinion does not mean that the contract would automatically be caught by IR35

They then go to say that working practices are more important, if that is the case why bother having a contract assessed in the first place?

Agency have agreed to change all the major points, but they are quibbling some of the minors, I get the impression possibly because they have had problems with the assessors in the past!