Newsflash: Intermediaries (IR35) and the public sector

What do we already know?

In our February 2017 Newsletter Government reforms (2): Intermediaries (IR35) and the Public Sector we updated you that from 6 April 2017:

• individuals working through intermediaries (most commonly their own Personal Service Company (PSC)) in the public sector will no longer be responsible for deciding whether IR35 applies; and
• when a public sector organisation engages an off-payroll worker through their own PSC and it has been decided that the engagement falls within the scope of IR35, the public sector organisation (or a recruitment agency if used) will become responsible for operating PAYE on the payments it makes to the PSC and for paying employer’s NIC.

What’s new?

HMRC has published a new employment status checker, available here, for the purposes of determining whether the IR35 (intermediaries) legislation will apply to a particular set of facts. The legislation will apply only where the worker would (for tax or NICs purposes) be an employee of the client if they worked directly for it (rather than through the intermediary).

HMRC states that the service can be used for current and future engagements in the private or public sector and it is expressly confirmed that HMRC will stand by the result given by the checker unless it is subsequently shown that the information provided is inaccurate.