New HMRC employment status checker tool goes live
HMRC has published a new “check employment status for tax” online tool which you can use to find out if you, or a worker on a specific engagement, should be classed as employed or self-employed for tax purposes.The service will give you the view of HMRC on whether the intermediaries legislation (IR35) applies to an engagement and whether a worker should pay tax through PAYE for an engagement. It can be used for current or future engagements in the private or public sector. HMRC will stand by the result given unless a compliance check finds the information provided isn’t accurate. HMRC won’t stand by results achieved through contrived arrangements designed to get a particular outcome from the service. This would apparently be treated as evidence of deliberate non-compliance with associated higher penalties. You should choose answers that best match the usual working practices of the engagement.The service is anonymous and won’t store any information you enter or the result given. You’ll be able to print your result for your own records.