HMRC will do more to help taxpayers comply with IR35 reforms

The Treasury agreed with many of the recommendations made by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee in its report Lessons from implementing IR35 reforms. 

On non-compliance which the committee suggested reflected poor implementation of the reforms by HMRC the government disagreed. It said HMRC undertook an ‘extensive programme of customer education and support during the implementation of the reforms and already provides additional support’. However HMRC will expand its work to obtain taxpayer insight to identify common issues and consider what additional customer support is required – such as updates to guidance or targeted communications.

On status determinations HMRC agreed there should be a fast and independent process for contractors to resolve disputes over status determinations. To this end it would assess the extent to which workers are using existing appeals routes and how...