Reply to: PCG Sign Me UP

[Zorba]

Just felt I should provide some clarification here!

As stated above, TLC35 covers all representation costs plus the tax, interest and penalties should your contract be deemed inside IR35.

However, we have recently redesigned our risk assessment procedure and there is no longer any stipulation for a contract review/assessment prior to cover being offered. Contractors can now register online and complete a short working and business practice questionnaire - if everything is ok the policy can be fully issued in minutes.

Obviously we still offer contract reviews at £85 or £35 depending on the level of detail required.

This is excellent news. Whilst the PCG cover is sufficient, if you follow Malvolio's logic, some people do prefer QDos's type of offering so that they can sleep that little bit better at night. Well done QDos.

(I personally am with the PCG but I can definitely see the attraction of the TLC35 cover, and do consider it as a good option).

[malvolio]

watch out here comes Molvolio. He's funny.

Unlike you, then. And the point of the name is lost if you mis-spell it, but that is probably a bit deep...

Anyway, glad to hear QDOS have simplified matters. Better tell the PCG...

[TheRightStuff]

Just felt I should provide some clarification here!

As stated above, TLC35 covers all representation costs plus the tax, interest and penalties should your contract be deemed inside IR35.

However, we have recently redesigned our risk assessment procedure and there is no longer any stipulation for a contract review/assessment prior to cover being offered. Contractors can now register online and complete a short working and business practice questionnaire - if everything is ok the policy can be fully issued in minutes.

Obviously we still offer contract reviews at £85 or £35 depending on the level of detail required.

watch out here comes Molvolio. He's funny.

[Qdos Contractor]

Just felt I should provide some clarification here!

As stated above, TLC35 covers all representation costs plus the tax, interest and penalties should your contract be deemed inside IR35.

However, we have recently redesigned our risk assessment procedure and there is no longer any stipulation for a contract review/assessment prior to cover being offered. Contractors can now register online and complete a short working and business practice questionnaire - if everything is ok the policy can be fully issued in minutes.

Obviously we still offer contract reviews at £85 or £35 depending on the level of detail required.

[malvolio]

Jeez. how many more times...

It's up to you to estabish the IR35edness or not of your contract, either by understanding the rules or by getting it assessed professionally. If you genuinely are in a disguised employee position and then ask Accountax (for example) to bail you out of IR35, Dave Smith will most likley tell you not to be so silly. If there is any doubt at all that you are inside, they will take it on and almost certainly win.

The PCG's advisors that provide this bit of the service are mostly ex-HMRC people and know the rules inside out and backwards. It won't take them long to spot an unwinnable case, but if it makes you fell any better, they haven't seen one yet...

[andy]

However the experts will not defend an unwinnable case, although we haven't had one of them yet. It's not a get out of jail free card, after all.

How do they decide that its an unwinnable case. Do you have to get the contract checked for ir35 compliance from them or from external companies like bauercottrell etc

[TheFaQQer]

Quick Dirty question - You can claim IR35 contract reviews as expenses right ?

I am thinking to review with Abbey ( 125 plus VAT) or Lawspeed ( 85 plus VAT ). Hum , 45 quid worth saving..

If you think the contract might be IR35 friendly, then you might want to look at Qdos Freelancer Club. Membership is £35 and you get three reviews a year for that - they only give you a pass / fail indication though, I think.

Some contract checking services are better than others - are they just checking for IR35, or checking whether the contract is good to sign or not? Qdos were happy with a contract I sent them from an IR35 perspective, but there were other clauses I didn't like from a business perspective.

[2uk]

Quick Dirty question - You can claim IR35 contract reviews as expenses right ?

I am thinking to review with Abbey ( 125 plus VAT) or Lawspeed ( 85 plus VAT ). Hum , 45 quid worth saving..

[Lewis]

I was not meaning to imply that I think QDOS are in any way dodgy - I was just implying that they are in the business of providing tax loss insurance

I see your point

[Gonzo]

Look, I don't think QDOS are in any way 'dodgy' like you are sort of implying and I also think the PCG offering is good as well. I just think that chosing tax-loss insurance is not completely deluded that's all.

I was not meaning to imply that I think QDOS are in any way dodgy - I was just implying that they are in the business of providing tax loss insurance

[Lewis]

However the experts will not defend an unwinnable case, although we haven't had one of them yet. It's not a get out of jail free card, after all.

As an aside, my end client is one of the major global banks in Canary Wharf. Since I joined I have noticed new starters are being called 'upstairs' and being made to sign contracts between them (the contractor), the agency and the bank. From what I've heard they don't seem to be IR35 friendly to me (removing right to replacement etc.). It's a bit scary I think. I certainly wouldn't sign myself but it seems everyone is. I wonder if things like this might start to cause trouble in IR35 cases ...

[mjshrimpton]

It's all the cases. I don't think most of the 14,000 people who have joined the PCG are all that interested in paying tax unnecesarily...

Cheers. I was pretty certain of that. It really is a mindblowing statistic, and it was the one that convinced me that they are A GOOD THING.

[malvolio]

It's all the cases. I don't think most of the 14,000 people who have joined the PCG are all that interested in paying tax unnecesarily...

[mjshrimpton]

However the experts will not defend an unwinnable case, although we haven't had one of them yet. It's not a get out of jail free card, after all.

This was the point I was always interested in.

If there is a ratio of 1472:3 wins:losses, are there many who are PCG members who have just been advised to drop trousers and grab ankles and therefore not got far enough to warrant taking up the insurance and therefore are not on the figures.

Or is this the sum total of PCG cases full stop.

(I am a member already and I find it bloody useful for all the fringe benefits)

[malvolio]

Yes, but why are you sure your contract is inside IR35? Have you had it reviewed?

Representation is not conditional - you join and you're covered - with the sole condition being that you aren't already being investigated for IR35. However the experts will not defend an unwinnable case, although we haven't had one of them yet. It's not a get out of jail free card, after all.