Trade transferred?

Our client is an established actor who has been self employed in the profession for over 40 years. About ten years ago he secured some six-monthly contracts for an established TV soap and subsequent to this rolling agreements have been established.

The work is not full time but because of the 200-mile distance from his home he requires overnight accommodation to be near the studio; for example 102 nights in one year were spent in an hotel near the studio covering 20 visits. The hotel was the same but he did not occupy the same room. In addition we have claimed travel costs from our client's home (which we regard as his business base) to the hotel and studios. The terms of the contract do not allow our client to work for anybody else without the agreement of the studio.

HMRC argue that...