| SPEEDY
IR35 WIN FOR PCG MEMBER
The IR35 case of a PCG member whom we shall call George
- not his real name - has been resolved in just three
months. It was handled by Lawspeed, under PCG's Professional
Expenses Insurance (PEI) as supplied by Abbey Tax.
What began as a seemingly innocuous inspection of business
records and PAYE quickly turned into a full-blown IR35
investigation. At a meeting with Inland Revenue compliance
officers in May, George and his accountant were asked
a series of questions regarding working practices specifically
relating to IR35. He notified PCG, and began dialogue
with Abbey Tax via its helpline.
A few days later, George received a request to sign
the recorded minutes of the meeting prior to the submission
of a report to and IR35 status inspector. Abbey Tax
agreed to process his claim, and the case was assigned
to Lawspeed, which undertook its own fact-finding exercise
to verify key aspects of the various engagements undertaken
by George's company.
Lawspeed was able to establish a notable bank of evidence
to demonstrate that George's company, which provides
consulting services relating to design, development
and manufacturing in the automotive industry, operated
as a genuine business. This included relevant insurance
policies, website promotion, company minutes, photos
of dedicated office space and details of investment
in training.
It also found that the minutes did not accurately reflect
the discussions in the meeting or the reality of the
company's engagements, and advised George not to sign
them. Instead, it responded to the Revenue pointing
out the inaccuracies and furnishing additional relevant
information.
At the end of August, a letter was received from the
Revenue stating that the company's engagements were
not subject to the IR35 legislation. The factors cited
included lack of control by the client, substitution
rights, the ability to determine relevant hours and
notify proposed periods of non-performance as a courtesy
rather than applying for "holiday", as well
as substantial investment in training.
Commenting on the decision, PCG chairman Simon Juden
said, "I am naturally delighted to hear of yet
another IR35 win for a PCG member, and very pleased
for George that his case was resolved so speedily. We
know from the experience of those whose cases have lasted
two or three years or more how incredibly stressful
it can be."
"I am extremely pleased with the result,"
said George. "Lawspeed's help was excellent in
guiding us through which documents to send and the correct
approach in dealing with the Revenue. We have enough
worries running a small business, so having the backup
of professional legal help lifted a great weight off
our shoulders."
Included in the PCG membership fee, PEI covers all
full members for professional fees relating to any tax
investigation, including those on IR35, S660A, PAYE,
VAT and aspect enquiries. The amount of cover on any
one claim is £75,000. Members who have submitted
their contracts to the Revenue for an opinion are not
excluded - even those who have had their contracts "failed".
In addition to this all-important cover, many members
who have been through the pain of drawn-out tax investigations
have found the peer support from fellow members invaluable.
To date, PCG's Affiliate members who handle tax investigations
have between them closed 647 cases in favour of the
freelancer, with just two cases being won by the Revenue.
NEW LINKS FROM HOME PAGE
The PCG website
has recently been updated to include three new pages
designed specifically for new members, people who are
new to freelancing or thinking about it, and accountants.
Accessible via a single click from the home page, each
of these pages incorporates a list of the links most
likely to be useful to those individuals.
- The New
member page lists some key resources, information
and contact details that new members may find especially
useful at the outset.
- The New
to freelancing page offers a wealth of useful
information about freelancing, and is available to
members and non-members alike.
- The Accountants
page provides information about how PCG can help accountants
stay up-to-date with tax, employment status and case
law matters, and how their freelance contractor clients
will benefit from joining PCG.
Longer-standing PCG members may also find these pages
useful as a reminder of the material available on the
website, and also as a way of introducing fellow freelancers
and accountants to PCG, simply by emailing them the
relevant URL.
BECOMING A TRULY SUCCESSFUL CONSULTANT
PCG chairman Dr Simon Juden will be one of a distinguished
panel of presenters at Top-Consultant's "Becoming
a Truly Successful Freelance Consultant" seminar
in London on 5 November 2004. Key sessions will include:
- Issues and pitfalls when starting out as an independent
consultant
- Market insights - the data you must know to operate
as a successful freelance consultant
- The consulting cycle (market, sell and deliver whilst
managing client expectations)
- Building a pipeline of consulting work
- Delivering world class consulting as an independent
consultant
- Maximising client satisfaction and "exploiting"
sell-on opportunities
- Lifestyle issues for the independent consultant
PREFERENTIAL MEMBER DISCOUNT ON IR35 BOOK
The third edition of "Tolley's IR35 Defence Strategies:
From Contracts to the Commissioners", written by
Dave Smith of Accountax Consulting, has just been published.
The book retails at £54.95 but PCG members are
entitled to a 50% discount. To order your copy, call
(020) 8662 2000, stating the name of the book and furnishing
your PCG membership number.
BYTE NIGHT 2004 DONATIONS WELCOME
On Friday night 17 September 2004, CC member Andrew
Banks and PCG director Richard Robson braved the elements
to sleep rough for the night, to raise money for NCH,
the children's charity.
From
Right to Left: Richard Robson, Jenny Agutter,
Andrew Banks.
NCH helps children
and young people facing difficulties or challenges in
their lives, and it works with more children and young
people, including those affected by poverty, disability
and abuse, than any other UK charity.
If you missed the chance to sponsor the intrepid two
before the night, you can still make your donation to
this worthwhile cause at https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/pendragon
COMMERCIAL FORUM PROJECT POSTINGS
For information about the latest job, project, contract
and work opportunities, see PCG's Commercial
forum , and Members'
Commercial forum. The Commercial forum may be accessed
by Affiliate members, and PCG welcomes postings by agencies.
This week's opportunities from the Commercial forums
include:
Cisco,
ISDN and IP aware person - Leicester/remote
SAP
BW3.0B+ and/or SEM version 3.2+ consultants - UK-wide
High
rate C++ contract - Newcastle
Notes
trainer - London
REAL LIFE MEETINGS
Local real life meetings - known on the forums as "RLMs"
- encourage members to socialise, network and discuss
PCG issues. These meetings are open to everybody, and
in many cases non-members are welcome to come along
too.
Farnborough:
Prince of Wales, Farnborough - Tuesday 28 September
2004 19:00
West
Midlands: Rose and Crown J3 M42 - Wednesday 6 October
2004 20:00
Various members have also posted in the RLM forum about
potential meetings in Taunton,
Basel,
Warrington,
Sheffield,
Norwich,
Edinburgh,
Shropshire
and South
Wales. If you would like to attend RLMs in any of
these areas, please register your interest by posting
to the relevant thread.
OTHER EVENTS
AICS,
London: - Thursday 30 September 2004 18:45
Guest speaker Shelagh Gaskill of Masons, a firm of solicitors
in London, who presented an overview of the Data Protection
Act 1998 two years ago, will give an update on recent
developments in data protection and privacy issues,
as well as an overview of the Freedom
of Information Act.
Disclaimer - caveat emptor - PCG carries very limited
advertising only from known and reputable Affiliates and
complementary organisations. Even so, publication of any
advertisement carries no implicit or explicit endorsement
by PCG.
Professional Contractors Group Limited
Lakeside House, 1 Furzeground Way
Stockley Park East
Uxbridge
UB11 1BD
Telephone: +44 (0845) 125 9899
Fax: +44 (020) 8622 3200
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