A very brief history - IR35 was introduced in 2000 to address the problem of people working through personal service companies to avoid paying employment taxes. It was designed to make sure workers and employers pay the right amount of employment taxes, particularly where employed workers and self-employed contractors were undertaking similar work.

Through a limited company, you’re able to split your income and the associated Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) based on a low salary and high dividends – thereby paying less tax than an employee.

If IR35 applies to your contract, it means you pay the same Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) as you would if employed directly rather than contracted to work through your limited company.

The financial impact of IR35 can be significant. You may find your future earnings are reduced and have to pay Income Tax and NICs it calculates as due from prior years. HMRC can determine if the relationship between you (as the worker) and the end-client would be seen as an employer/employee relationship, if the agency you work for and/or your limited company wasn’t in place.

Breaking it down: IR35 determines if you’re an employee of the client or whether your limited company is providing services to that client.

There were a number of changes to the IR35 rules that were scheduled to be rolled out for private sector businesses in April 2020, but the COVID-19 crisis means this has been delayed for another year. Businesses now have an extra year to plan for the changes, now set to be implemented on 6th April 2021.