FCSA responds to off-payroll / IR35 draft legislation

FCSA submitted a written response to the draft legislation for the off-payroll / IR35 changes that are due to affect the public sector from April 2017.  There are many accountancy issues with the proposed legislation that have not yet been satisfactorily resolved, difficulties with the liability for deciding IR35 status, concerns regarding interaction with other legislation plus the FCSA have significant reservations regarding the digital tool – the Employment Status Service which ignores current IR35 legislation and case law.

Aside from the detail, the FCSA remain concerned about the underlying principle of the changes.  Better enforcement is surely the most appropriate way to deal with a compliance issue, however the FCSA are repeatedly told this is not a feasible solution due to resource constraints at HMRC.  Instead, draft legislation has been presented that:

• Is being railroaded in without proper consideration of stakeholders views;
• Will only serve to have wide-ranging detrimental impact on both the flexibility of the workforce upon which the UK economy is dependent;
• Will have a significant increase in costs to the taxpayer at a time when public spending is already under considerable pressure.

You can read the response here >

Published on: 08 February 2017 - By: FCSA