With everyone’s attention firmly set on the April 2017 public sector IR35 rule changes, many within the industry have been asking whether this is merely a test run for a much bigger target – private sector contractors

HMRC’s long-awaited employment status test has gone live, just over a month before the new public sector IR35 rules take effect.

HMRC has published a series of documents outlining the forthcoming ‘off-payroll’ IR35 rules for contractors working for public sector organisations.

HMRC has revealed that it will be public sector bodies themselves, not recruitment agencies, which will be responsible for operating IR35 from April 2017 onwards. So, how will this impact contractors?

With the Government’s planned reforms to the way IR35 is operated in the public sector set to go ahead as planned from April 2017, we asked a leading IR35 expert to help explain what the changes mean for contractors in reality.

HMRC’s consultation on off-payroll working in the public sector was issued at the end of May 2016. Here we consider the impact on the industry should the proposals be adopted in their current state.

The standout measure announced during Budget 2016 was placing the burden of enforcing IR35 onto public sector bodies themselves and/or recruiters. Here we look at how this proposed change will affect limited company contractors from April 2017 onwards.

Following the Summer Budget, HMRC has released a discussion document on ‘how to make IR35 more effective in protecting the Exchequer’. Will end-clients now be compelled to determine the IR35 status of contractors they engage?

An IR35 expert answers our questions on the ‘Right of Substitution’ – considered to be the most important test in determining employment status. It is also a topic which generates more questions from contractors than almost any other.