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.

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