Reverse IR35 legislation

The Government had announced that reforms to the off-payroll working rules (also known as IR35) would be repealed from 6 April 2023, but this decision has been reversed by the new Chancellor.

We want these reforms to be reversed, as promised.

We believe IR35 rules are unfair and mean that many people who had previously worked on a self-employed basis are treated as employees. This creates new costs for workers, and is also expensive for businesses to ensure compliance and creates new barriers to people taking on certain work.

It is unacceptable that the Government has reversed it's decision to repeal these reforms. We want the repeal upheld.

The off-payroll working rules, also known as IR35, have been in place for over twenty years and are designed to ensure that individuals working like employees, but through their own company, pay broadly the same income tax and National Insurance contributions.

To address high levels of non-compliance with these rules, in 2017 the Government introduced reforms that moved the responsibility for determining whether the off-payroll working rules apply from the individual’s own intermediary to the deemed employer engaging them.

The reforms came into effect in the public sector in April 2017 and were extended to the private and voluntary sectors in April 2021. The rules do not apply to directly engaged, self-employed workers, and do not create an additional tax liability for those determined not to be working in the same way as employees.

The Government consulted extensively on the 2017 and 2021 reforms and has continued work to understand the broader impacts of the reforms and how improvements could be made to the way the rules work in practice. This includes recently published independent research and HMRC’s internal analysis of the impacts of the reforms, which looked at how status decisions are being made as well as changes to how contractors are engaged. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impacts-of-the-2021-off-payroll-working-rules-reform-in-the-private-and-voluntary-sectors.

The Government very much values the contributions of flexible workers, including the self-employed, to the UK economy and is committed to the tax system becoming simpler and more dynamic to help reduce burdens on businesses and individuals.

HMRC will continue to provide support and guidance to individuals and businesses operating the rules and will continue to look for opportunities to improve the way these rules work in practice.

HM Treasury