PCG, the contractors’ organisation, has written to the Chancellor in advance of his December 5th Autumn Statement, to highlight two controversial issues which affect public sector contractors and interims in particular.
In the letter, the group’s MD, John Brazier, highlighted issues of ongoing interest to the contracting community (such as IR35 and taxation), but made a special mention of two new Government policies which were not in existence this time last year – the ‘controlling persons’ and public sector off-payroll regulations.
Created in response to public anger over both anti-avoidance and revelations that some public sector officials were providing their services via personal service companies, each policy has been criticised for lacking clarity, and causing further confusion for contractors already coping with IR35 and the Agency Workers Regulations.
The off-payroll rules for public sector contractors require those working on contracts lasting 6 months or more (and earning £220+ per day) to provide assurance to their Government department that they are meeting their tax obligations – including providing evidence that IR35 does not apply to the assignment.
The controlling persons proposals, on the other hand, aim to force organisations to tax any consultants or interims who are deemed to be ‘influential’ within the organisation on a ‘payroll’ basis.
In both cases, leading tax bodies such as the CIOT have called on the Government to use existing legislation to deal with non-payroll issues – and in the case of the controlling persons proposals, to exclude the private sector.
We will update Company Bug with any relevant news on December 5th following the Chancellor’s Statement. You can find out more about the PCG here.
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