HMRC presses ahead with self-employment tax changes

HMRC is pressing ahead with the IR35 employment tax changes, which were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In April this year, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a 12-month postponement of the changes to IR35 legislation, to 6 April 2021.

However, despite continued disruption from coronavirus to businesses, HMRC has confirmed that it will now stick with the 6 April 2021 date.

It is holding two live agent webinars about the off-payroll working rules for the public sector and medium- and large-sized organisations, coming up on 21 October and 2 November.

IR35 was introduced by HMRC to stop 'disguised employees' from avoiding tax by operating as contractors while working in a similar way to employees. The off-payroll rules were due to be extended from the public sector to the private sector in April this year. Under the rules, the responsibility for determining whether IR35 rules apply will move to the organisation receiving an individual's services.

Companies will need to look at their current workforce and identify those individuals who are supplying their services through personal service companies, before determining if the off-payroll rules apply for any contracts that extend beyond April 2021. HMRC has produced a 'Check Employment Status for Tax' service to do this.

This article originally appeared on Construction Manager