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Susan Ball discusses the shortcomings of HMRC’s check employment status for tax tool.
KEY POINTS
- HMRC tested CEST against settled and live cases.
- The test does not specifically take into account mutuality of obligation.
- Changing nature of employment status creates uncertainty for workers.
- More amendments will be required for CEST when off-payroll rules change for the private sector.
After a lengthy investigation Contract Calculator concluded in August that HMRC’s check employment status tool (CEST) was ‘routinely’ misleading contractors and self-employed people coming to ‘the wrong conclusion in almost half of cases’ (tinyurl.com/yc95n98p).
Then under the freedom of information rules HMRC issued a press release that included a list of cases against which CEST has been tested (tinyurl.com/ydh54tu9). It said the digital service had been ‘rigorously tested during development in conjunction with HMRC’s lawyers against live and settled cases and reflects...
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