The dozens of PSC contractors who will quit working at a London hospital before next Thursday look like a precursor to a much bigger exodus of such workers from the health service.In fact, despite warnings that 85% of PSCs will quit if decided inside IR35 by their client from April 6th, the NHS has told its entire PSC workforce that it will be caught by the new legislation.In an email seen by ContractorUK, NHS Improvement says “all” locum and agency staff will be “subject to PAYE and on … [Read more...]
Agencies slash PSCs’ pay rates, insist on umbrellas
PSCs are being blocked from staying as ‘Ltd’ companies and applying IR35 because agencies and public bodies want to head off hassle next month of assessing status and withholding tax.Ultimatums are therefore being sent to such PSCs before April 6th, in essence saying ‘convert to a PAYE umbrella, ignore the less-taxing model of being a PSC inside IR35, or be out of work.’“The best option for [you/a PSC], with regard to take-home pay, and us [the agency], from an admin and compliance … [Read more...]
Self-employment models coming under scrutiny again
In 2014, HMRC introduced new rules designed to remove so-called false self-employment for workers engaged via intermediaries. These rules centred on ”SDC” tests designed to establish whether a worker was, or was capable of, working under supervision, direction and control. Unless an engager could evidence that no SDC (or right to) existed, PAYE/NIC would need to be applied to the worker’s earnings as though they were employeesNot surprisingly, the number of self-employed contractors working … [Read more...]
HMRC comes under fire from providers
HM Revenue & Customs’ new Employment Status Service (ESS) tool to determine the IR35 status of public sector contractors has come under fire from contractor service providers. The tool, launched ahead of a new requirement on public sector companies to set the IR35 status of contractors they engage from 6 April, is facing criticism from service providers just a day after its launch. Commenting on the new tool’s launch, Dave Chaplin, CEO and founder of contractor portal ContractorCalculator, … [Read more...]
IR35 Reform of Intermediaries Legislation: Public Authorities
HMRC has published an update on it's Off-payroll working in the public sector: reform of intermediaries legislation page to include further information for public authorities. Gov.co.uk states under Public Authorities: "For the purpose of this reform, a public authority means a public authority as defined for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.This definition covers government departments and their executive agencies, many … [Read more...]
PSC Deadline Day is upon us!
If you’re continuing to operate PSC or Limited Company workers within the Public Sector I am sure you have the date of April 6th firmly marked in your diary. One date you may not have circled, yet one could argue is even more important is March 7th.Not only is this the date of our final AS16 and IR35 Breakfast Huddle in Central London, assuming you invoice monthly, this is also the last time you can invoice without the new legislation affecting your payment. Don’t forget, the new legislation … [Read more...]
The clock is ticking……………………. ACT NOW
AS16………….IR35……………Are you ready?April 6th, 2017 is fast approaching and with that comes all the changes relating to IR35 legislation. Whilst the Public Sector dominates the spotlight for the change, the private sector doesn’t go unnoticed.Within the Public Sector, we are seeing legislative change, like we’ve never seen before. The most significant factor seeing the end client being responsible for the compliance of their contractors.Don’t underestimate this change. The new rules will … [Read more...]
IR35 inspectors to probe public PSCs retrospectively
Personal service companies deemed inside the public sector’s April 6th off-payroll rules risk having their entire history of contracts probed under IR35, not just those after the date.Most at risk of being investigated under IR35 retrospectively are the ‘pre-April 6th’ contracts the PSC has with the public client, who deems the rules to apply to the PSC ‘post-April 6th.’This was the assessment yesterday from three separate experts on the incoming rules; status advisory Bauer & … [Read more...]
75 Days to go…
As we have stated previously, 'Do you operate in the Public Sector?’, one thing is clear, the landscape of temporary workers within the Public Sector will be affected by the imminent changes to the IR35 regulations. On Wednesday this week, TfL announced that they would no longer be accepting workers who operate through their own Professional Services Company (PSC) and we expect that this will be a continuing trend. The NHS has already ordered hospitals and healthcare institutes to stop paying … [Read more...]
NHS boss ‘orders a stop to payments to PSCs’
Hospitals have been ordered to simply stop paying external managers through personal service companies.Jim Mackay, chief executive of health service regulator NHS Improvement, reportedly issues the order in a letter he sent to hospital leaders on Tuesday.Seen by the Times, the letter states that interims in leadership roles can be hired only if they are set clear goals and held to account for failure to achieve them.The criteria come after Mr Mackay wrote there is sometimes either … [Read more...]