To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations his Department has received from people and organisations affected by off-payroll working rules and changes to IR35 regulations on those rules and changes; and what proportion of those representations have been critical of the IR35 changes.
Answered on
13 June 2018
The government has consulted widely on off-payroll working rules (known as IR35), since the Summer Budget 2015. In July 2015, the government published the ‘Intermediaries Legislation (IR35): discussion document’, which sought views on the existing rules and options for change.
After Budget 2016, the government published the consultation document, ‘Off-payroll working in the public sector: reform of the intermediaries legislation’. HMRC met with over 500 people from a wide range of organisations to discuss the proposed changes, and received over 200 written responses to the consultation.
Following the introduction of the new rules in April 2017, the government commissioned independent research into the impact of the changes. This was published on 18 May 2018 and is available to view online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/off-payroll-reform-in-the-public-sector
The government’s assessment is that the reform has been successful in increasing tax compliance for off-payroll workers in the public sector.
The government is now consulting on possible reform to the off-payroll working rules in the private sector. As part of that consultation, HMRC is planning to meet over 200 people, including representatives of a wide range of affected stakeholders.