What to do if classified 'inside'?

[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.

[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.

[Liberator]

In a nutshell the least risky thing to do in your situation is leave. It may lessen the risk that you never did the role that was determined inside so harder to challenge it if HMRC come looking.

You can't get away from the fact you've been outside and now client says inside though. That's a matter of record now. Best course of action is to try distance yourself from it.

That my honest opinion.

Although.. If you've been on the forums for the last few months how have you gotten in the situation where you are still there and now been deemed inside?

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.

[northernladuk]

In a nutshell the least risky thing to do in your situation is leave. It may lessen the risk that you never did the role that was determined inside so harder to challenge it if HMRC come looking.

You can't get away from the fact you've been outside and now client says inside though. That's a matter of record now. Best course of action is to try distance yourself from it.

That my honest opinion.

Although.. If you've been on the forums for the last few months how have you gotten in the situation where you are still there and now been deemed inside?

[jamesbrown]

Well, your client is saying you’re inside, so you either need some very good evidence to the contrary about your existing contract and WP or you need to accept that you were inside all along and pay the extra tax. Once you get an inside determination, you’re firmly in the space of least worst options. Staying at the same client makes it easier to join the dots, so there’s that. It depends whether you believe the guidance from HMRC about their not “focusing” on historical cases. I don’t. No one can give you a correct answer at this point. If you do stay, try to make the clearest distinction possible in terms of your WP. If you are doing roughly the same thing in roughly the same way with only a change in contract, it’s not going to look very good, is it?

( BTW, your specific scenario is not novel at all - plenty of other threads cover this )

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Your circumstances are covered elsewhere, however the answer is.....

No-one knows.

HMRC have made some vague assertions. HMRC have proven repeatedly that they cannot be trusted.

None of us can possibly know what will occur in future.

Many posters on here are 100% that action x or action y is bound to be "safe" or bound to trigger an investigation using their "logic". They are wrong (or right) nobody can possibly know.

I quit my contract before they announced their verdicts. I will not be taking an inside IR35 gig unless I have no choice - I'd rather take a permie job or a FTC. For now, I have an outside gig with a different client.

A few people on here think that if you are prepared to accept an inside role, you were never a proper contractor anyway, but that's just another opinion.

Good luck whatever you do.

[Liberator]

It does but should make you aware of all the risks around being there before and after determination or at least give you enough information to work this out for yourself to somwle extent.

As you can imagine you aren't the first one in this position so have a flick through the threads and see if yiu can find one on these topic.

This is basic IR35 management. It shouldn't be this difficult.

I've spent hours over the past few months trawling through this forum but nowhere has it set up my specific situation which is naturally concerning to me. I'm not some lazy arsed contractor who can't be bothered to go through the posts. I just wanted to start up a discussion over 3 very specific scenarios. If you don't want to express a view or opinion that's fine, but why come up with some sarcy remark?

[BR14]

This is basic IR35 management. It's not rocket science.

looks like it may be.

[northernladuk]

You mean the cojak one? It seemed to be talking about what to do before a status decision was made but thanks for your help.

It does but should make you aware of all the risks around being there before and after determination or at least give you enough information to work this out for yourself to somwle extent.

As you can imagine you aren't the first one in this position so have a flick through the threads and see if yiu can find one on these topic.

This is basic IR35 management. It shouldn't be this difficult.

[Liberator]

There's a long sticky on this and many discussions on the topic. What is different to your situation that these don't apply?

You mean the cojak one? It seemed to be talking about what to do before a status decision was made but thanks for your help.

[ladymuck]

There's a long sticky on this and many discussions on the topic. What is different to your situation that these don't apply?

[Liberator]

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...