The end

[Lance]

It's about believability

If you have 4 different clients over 2 years with clear breaks between them you can clearly say you have not been a disguised employee and that should hold up in court - especially if you pay me for some advice on how to look like a business to HMRC

if you have been at the same client for 2 years your argument is weaker....a lot weaker especially if you have been minimising pay and maximising dividends..

that believability (sic) may well suit a casual observer. But the number of clients, and the minimising of tax liability by using dividends, have no legal bearing whatsoever on IR35.

Not until a judge agrees with your believability at a tax tribunal.

I'm sure that if you pay yourself £40k PAYE and small dividends you are a lot less likely to get investigated, but if I was that worried I'd buy QDOS TLC35 insurance as it's cheaper.

[ChimpMaster]

It's about believability

If you have 4 different clients over 2 years with clear breaks between them you can clearly say you have not been a disguised employee and that should hold up in court - especially if you pay me for some advice on how to look like a business to HMRC

if you have been at the same client for 2 years your argument is weaker....a lot weaker especially if you have been minimising pay and maximising dividends..

Not really. But I see why you're trying to make that point.

You can have one client for years, with evidence that you have vied for renewals and held negotiations on every renewal, trying to win new business. You might have been forced to take unpaid leave, or given a mid-contract rate cut. You might have been able to send in a substitute for even a short amount of time. Perhaps you even had the authority to dictate your place of work, or how the work is done, and within what schedule.

Wouldn't that just be wonderful.

[billybiro]

My biggest fear is that - just as in 1999 - end clients do not want permanent or temporary employees and will pressure contractors to remain as that.

Don't worry. By April 2010, this government will have decimated employee's rights to the point that employers are free to hire and fire at will with no negative consequences. Problem solved.

[LondonManc]

It's not the end, it's simply a revision of the rules and the game changes and players adapt or fold.

[Yorkie62]

It's not the end, it's simply a revision of the rules and the game changes and players adapt or fold.

This. Simples.

[GreenMirror]

It's not the end, it's simply a revision of the rules and the game changes and players adapt or fold.

That was said in 1997 with IR35. And nothing changed.

[LondonManc]

That was said in 1997 with IR35. And nothing changed.

To be fair, contractors did stop claiming TVs and DVD players on expenses, as well as dining tables as conference tables etc.

[northernladuk]

To be fair, contractors did stop claiming TVs and DVD players on expenses, as well as dining tables as conference tables etc.

You think?

[GreenMirror]

To be fair, contractors did stop claiming TVs and DVD players on expenses, as well as dining tables as conference tables etc.

Citibank 1994. A contractor put his new kitchen via the company. Took him years for HMRC to complete the body cavity search without lube.

[LondonManc]

You think?

By comparison yes.