All About Self Employment

Here in the UK we are currently (December 2022) experiencing a cost of living crisis which is almost certainly exacerbated by the recent pandemic.  Today we're chatting to employment lawyer Cristian Ley about how attitudes towards self-employment have changed in recent years, the impact of politics, and how that is now impacting on the cost of living crisis.

We're talking about:

What's changed within big infrastructure projects that are so important to the economy;

The practical impact of IR35 and off-payroll working legislation;

Changes within supply chains;

Workforce changes;

The government's direction of travel regarding self-employment.

This is a fascinating discussion about why self-employment is so important to the economy, what has changed recently, and why that affects us all.

About Cristian Ley

A solicitor who qualified in 2008, Cristian has spent the vast majority of his legal career focussing on employment status issues (under both tax and employment law).  He joined Guild Freelancing in 2010, and he is also Deputy MD at The Guild where he runs their legal function.

    

In his mini-budget on 23 September 2022, Kwasi Kwarteng announced a decision to repeal off-payroll legislation.  This was an unexpected and seismic change which has shocked the contracting sector!  There is a lot of misinformation doing the rounds, so we spoke to longstanding friend of the show Dave Chaplin, an expert known as "Mr IR35" to get his take on it all.  Join us to hear:

What specifically is changing (clue - IR35 is here to stay);

What does it actually mean in practical terms;

What should contractors and their clients be doing right now;

What is the likely longer term impact and risks;

Will the change really happen?!

It's unheard of for a Chancellor to unilaterally change primary legislation with no prior consultation, let alone something that which has huge implications for businesses in all sectors.  There is no-one better to discuss the issues with than Dave, this is one episode you won't want to miss!

About Dave Chaplin

Dave Chaplin is the CEO and founder of tax compliance firm IR35 Shield and contracting authority ContractorCalculator.  He is also the author of the Contractors’ Handbook Third Edition and more recently IR35 & Off-Payroll – explained.

With over 20 years’ experience of IR35 under his belt, he regularly assists with IR35 tax tribunals, has consulted on many occasions for HMRC, advises politicians and Government bodies on freelance tax matters, and is prolifically quoted in the trade and national press.  In November 2020, Dave was included in the Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA)’ list of Europe’s 100 most influential leaders in the staffing industry.

Contact Dave:        

There has been an explosion of online marketplaces launching in recent years which connect freelancers to work opportunities, but there are considerable variations in how they work, and not always in the freelancers' favour.  To get the inside story, we're talking to Karl Swanepoel who launched his own marketplace after he experienced some of the issues.  He tells us:

Why it's hard to get started on these freelance marketplaces, and how to overcome issues;

Why you should be looking for platforms which implement proper quality control measures;

How some platforms might actually limit your ability to grow your business;

Why clients need to change their perception of freelancers.

The culture of many freelance marketplaces is all about how clients can get work done for the cheapest price, which can quickly become a race to the bottom when pricing and pitching your services.  Listen in to find out how to avoid this happening to you!

About Karl Swanepoel

Karl is a former freelancer who started working for himself aged just 14, when he quickly discovered some of the shortcomings of traditional freelance work platforms.  This ultimately led him to set up Revolancer who's mission statement is to create a brighter future for flexible work.  He is a 23 year old entrepreneur who is the youngest ever brand ambassador of The Business Show, Europe's largest business conference.

Find out more here:       

Today we're discussing the recent IR35 case in relation to Kaye Adams' personal service company, Atholl House.  This is important stuff because it casts doubt on HMRC's ability to understand and enforce IR35!  Cristian Ley, an employment lawyer with considerable expertise in this space tells us more.  Join us to find out:

Which elements of IR35 have been misapplied in the Atholl House case;

What this case actually means for self-employed freelancers;

Can employment status ever be a tick box exercise?

What does the future look like given that HMRC can't get to grips with IR35?

It's essential listening as the Court of Appeal has effectively unravelled the legislation in such a way that is favourable to freelancers and self-employed people!

About Cristian Ley

A solicitor who qualified in 2008, Cristian has spent the vast majority of his legal career focussing on employment status issues (under both tax and employment law).  He joined The Guild in 2010 to run their legal function.

    

Managed Service Company (MSC) legislation has come to the fore in recent months following news that HMRC sent tax bills to numerous self-employed contractors after accusing their accountant of breaching MSC rules.  It's quite likely that you've never heard of MSC legislation, even if you're a seasoned contractor, so what on earth is it all about?  We spoke to contracting expert Seb Maley, CEO of Qdos to find out:

What actually is MSC legislation?

Why does it matter if an accountant controls financial affairs?

What does that mean for self-employed people?

What is happening in the current cases that recently hit the headlines?

What should you do if you’re worried?

You should definitely tune if you aren't sure whether you or your accountant has the most control over your finances.

About Seb Maley and Qdos Contractor

Seb began his career as a tax consultant with a specialism in IR35.  He handled numerous investigations in the early years of the legislation, before developing Qdos's services and online delivery platform.  With the help of a fantastic team, Qdos has grown their client base to over 70,000 and the company is known as one of the UK's leading authorities on status.

For more on Qdos:        

We're completing our trilogy focussing on IR35 reforms by chatting to a contractor about how the new legislation has affected him and his business.  The reforms came into effect in the private sector in April 2020, and for our interviewee the impact has been more significant than COVID.  Shockingly, he lost approximately £80k due to the legislation change!

These are just a few of our key takeaways:

IR35 reforms increased complexity for businesses, leading to a risk averse approach with many banning personal service companies;

Contractors now operating 'inside IR35' have increased their rates to maintain their earnings;

Increasing costs for UK contractors is driving offshore resourcing as a cheaper option;

Entrepreneurism is being stifled, 'inside IR35' means paying people personally therefore there's no money going into the business to nurture it.

Our interviewee's work lends itself to creating a schedule of services and deliverables, but he had to bill on a time and materials basis in order to win work.  The IR35 reforms are now effectively penalising him for operating in a way that he tailored to meet client requirements.  Although he was operating legitimately, the IR35 reforms meant that our interviewee was blocked from accessing a large proportion of his previous target market.

Despite suffering a financial loss of up to £80k, our interviewee has some sympathy with his clients.  He says that Brexit, the pandemic and economic issues are creating enough volatility for businesses and they don’t need complex IR35 legislation to get to grips with on top of that.

For second time in two weeks, we're excited to welcome back self-confessed IR35 geek, Dave Chaplin!  We're continuing our discussion about the impact of the off-payroll legislation, one year after implementation in the private sector.  It's a serious subject with serious financial implications for self-employed contractors, so you really need to listen!  Join us to hear about:

What you need to watch out for if your assignment is 'outside IR35';

Why you MUST check for any indemnity clauses in your contract;

Why you pay zero tax if HMRC successfully challenge an outside IR35 status;

Beware of any insurance you buy because any IR35 inquiry would not be with you (unlike pre-reforms);

Reasonable care and how risk moves around the supply chain;

Latest tax tribunals, defendable position, and the outlook for the market.

Dave is an old friend of the show who really does know his stuff, so make yourself a brew and settle down for a good natter on all things IR35.  We chatted for longer than this 30 minutes and if you missed the first half you can catch the previous episode here.  (To be honest, we could actually talk about this stuff all day long!)

Resources

MSC legislation and support if you are investigated

Why those touting IR35 insurance need to consider MSC legislation

About Dave Chaplin

Dave Chaplin is the CEO and founder of contracting authority ContractorCalculator and tax compliance firm IR35 Shield.  He is also the author of the Contractors’ Handbook Third Edition and more recently IR35 & Off-Payroll – explained.

With over 20 years’ experience of IR35 under his belt, he regularly assists with IR35 tax tribunals, has consulted on many occasions for HMRC, advises politicians and Government bodies on freelance tax matters, and is prolifically quoted in the trade and national press.  In November 2020, Dave was included in the Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA)’ list of Europe’s 100 most influential leaders in the staffing industry.

Contact Dave:        

On the anniversary of IR35 reforms, we're excited to welcome back self-confessed IR35 geek, Dave Chaplin, to talk about the impact of the new legislation.  It's a serious subject with serious financial implications for self-employed contractors, so you really need to listen!  We take a look at what has happened in the last year, including:

A brief history of IR35 and how the legislation came about;

Why reforms were needed and what exactly changed;

What the changes mean for self-employed contractors and the supply chain;

What your clients need to do in relation to assessing IR35 status;

The impact of being 'inside IR35' and the increasing use of umbrella companies.

Dave is an old friend of the show who really does know his stuff, so make yourself a brew and settle down for a good natter on all things IR35.  We chatted for longer than this 30 minutes suggests, so tune in to the next episode for even more great listening!  (To be honest, we could actually talk about this stuff all day long!)

About Dave Chaplin

Dave Chaplin is the CEO and founder of contracting authority ContractorCalculator and tax compliance firm IR35 Shield.  He is also the author of the Contractors’ Handbook Third Edition and more recently IR35 & Off-Payroll – explained.

With over 20 years’ experience of IR35 under his belt, he regularly assists with IR35 tax tribunals, has consulted on many occasions for HMRC, advises politicians and Government bodies on freelance tax matters, and is prolifically quoted in the trade and national press.  In November 2020, Dave was included in the Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA)’ list of Europe’s 100 most influential leaders in the staffing industry.

Contact Dave:        

Following our very popular previous episode on cyber-security, Francis West agreed to come back and give us an update.  Everything is constantly evolving within cyber-security, and as a self-employed business owner you can't afford to leave this to chance - you must take steps to protect yourself otherwise the consequences can be devastating.

Every 19 seconds a UK company suffers a successful cyber attack.

It's an alarming fact that 48% of people will not go back to a business that has suffered a cyber attack, so please join us to hear the latest scams.  We're talking about:

Why just protecting your email is not enough;

Why you shouldn't assume that your IT team are also cyber-security experts;

What happened to the Mum who was just minutes away from losing £1500 to her 'son' on WhatsApp;

The latest LinkedIn scam that is specifically targeting people who are new to their current job;

Two reasons why people get attacked (lack of education and lack of better systems);

This is an entertaining episode in which we take a light-hearted approach to a technical subject and make it easy to understand.

About Francis West

His mission is to educate and protect over 1m people from cyber security threats by 2023.  He's been in the IT for many years, and with the huge increase in cyber security threats around the world, Francis now specialises in helping companies and individuals to protect their valuable data.  When Francis takes a rare day off from tackling cyber villains, you can find him working closely with Banks, Councils, Cyber Police, WCIT, speaking in the UK and internationally, or building projects from old pallets.

Contact Francis:         

No-one wants to have their finances investigated by HMRC, but it can happen to any self-employed person even if they have done nothing wrong.  So what do you do if you find yourself in that position, and how do you know being investigated anyway?  These are just some of the questions we asked the brilliant Tom Wallace, Director of Tax Investigations at WTT Group, as he has years of experience of helping people in this situation.

Some of our key takeaways are:

Don't panic!

HMRC don't usually go away, so don't be in denial either;

Don’t assume it’s a fishing expedition, assume they’ve identified something;

It's very hard to defend your case if you don't have records and supporting evidence.

This episode is essential listening for anyone unsure what they would do if faced with an HMRC investigation.

About Tom Wallace

Tom is Director of Tax Investigations at WTT Group.  He is a former Senior Inspector of Taxes who since leaving HMRC in 2017 has focused on the tax needs of freelancers, both resolving historic issues and advising on their ongoing compliance and planning requirements. He is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and has a specialist interest in international mobility in the contingent workforce.

For more information: