What should businesses do about IR35?

Up and down the country medium and large businesses are scratching their heads and wondering what to do about IR35 otherwise known as the off-payroll working rules. Unless there is a change of heart from the government – not implausible now that Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid are prime minister and chancellor of the exchequer respectively – hiring organisations in the private sector will for the first time have to wrestle with this complex legislation and make difficult status determinations that could dramatically affect their businesses.

The rules which come into effect from April 2020 require hiring organisations and end clients to decide whether IR35 should apply to each of their engagements with self-employed contractors. If they decide the engagement within IR35 PAYE tax and National Insurance will have to be deducted at source from payments made to the contractor. The responsibility for deducting these...