Tax remains taxing for contractors
There is no doubt that the government is determined to reduce tax avoidance. HMRC is clearly upping the ante by increasing the number of specialist investigation teams, looking at both global and national breaches of tax laws.
So is it any wonder that most UK contractors running their own limited company say that understanding and adhering to HMRC rules is the biggest concern about being self-employed?
Most people setting up their own business see at least one of the benefits of doing so as being the ability to set expenses against tax and to make payments by way of a dividend.
Yet with the rules surrounding IR35 based on case law and a lack of firm guidelines it is not surprising that many contractors are still unsure about what they are able to claim as expenses.
Legislation regarding the position of “office holders” is still making its way through the Parliament so doubt still exists in that area too.
Theresa Mimnagh, Associate Director at Lawspeed said:
“Tax law for contractors can be confusing but ignorance of the law is no defence in court and it’s always best to address these issues up front. The rules are complex and may become even more so with the addition of ‘office holders’ within new legislation. So it is more important than ever that contractors get up-to-date advice from independent legal specialists to reduce the risk of incurring a fine or a penalty from HMRC.”
Call Lawspeed on 01273 236 236 or email [email protected]
Adrian, a highly experienced lawyer, founded Lawspeed in 1997. He is responsible for developing our extensive portfolio of products and services, including the widely used Lawspeed contract templates. Adrian is an expert on “recruitment law” and specialises in contracts, regulatory compliance, employment status and dispute handling. He is chair of the trade body the Association of Recruitment Consultancies, the only lawyer lead recruitment trade body in the UK. Adrian and his co-director Ravi devised Standards in Recruitment as a vehicle for helping drive up standards and compliance in the industry.
Adrian is our lead in discussions with the government over regulatory evolution. Apart from assisting with client support, Adrian’s primary role is research and development into methods of business delivery, our latest service Proterms being his most recent project. Adrian heads our IR35 lawyers team.