This week's opinion

For a long time it seemed that IR35 had fallen down the back of HMRC’s sofa. But somebody must have been doing some spring cleaning because it is again front-page news. The Christa Ackroyd case (TC6334) involving a presenter working for the BBC has been much discussed but there have been other recent decisions with a positive outcome for taxpayers. One involving a contractor working for a public sector organisation which has not yet been reported will be the subject of an article in a later edition of Taxation. That could have a significant impact on the operation of new rules that shift the burden of PAYE and National Insurance in the public sector on to the employee.

As widely predicted HMRC is considering whether these off-payroll rules should be extended to the private sector. It has published independent research on the success of the public sector changes....