28th March, 2000 - IR35 Legal Challenge Fund

Since the PCG was formed it has been our aim to use every legal avenue to oppose this unfair and ill-thought out legislation. The recent publication of the IR35 regulations under the Welfare Reform Bill gives us the target we need.

PCG has spent the last 3 months collecting information and reviewing our legal options. Following the case conference with leading QC Gerald Barling, and a detailed presentation from our solicitors Bond Pearce, the board of directors of PCG has decided to go ahead. We will prepare a challenge under EU law and ask for leave for judicial review of IR35.

We are not going public with this now, it is confidential to PCG at present.

What are the grounds for review?
We need to keep this under wraps for now. Let's just say it's European, and as cunning as a fox that's just been made professor of cunning at the Universite' Libre de Bruxelles.

Can we really win this?
Quite possibly. IR35 is, in legal terms, more full of holes than an old French cheese that's been hung on the wall and used as a dart board by the Foreign Legion for two weeks. Gerald Barling assures us we have a respectable chance of kicking the whole thing into touch.

Who?
Gerald Barling QC is a top single-market lawyer, well used to beating the Government on tax issues. Remember the Lunn Poly case? I bet Dawn does, she lost.

How will we fund this?
A legal action on this scale can not be funded out of PCGs general budget. We will open a separate legal fighting fund to raise the money.

How much will it cost?
We need to raise �0.5m (five hundred thousand pounds) to fund the judicial review. That would cover getting leave to review, the review itself, and several stages of appeal by the Goverment, including a possible referral to the European Court. We do not think it worth starting if we can't take it all the way.

This is a large sum of money but it should not be impossible for PCG's 6000 members and other suporters to raise. This has to be seen in the context of the earnings you stand to loose if you are caught by IR35.

How do I contribute?
Although we have instructed our solicitors to begin preparing the challenge, we need to get some confidence that we have the requisite funds available, and we are therefore asking that you pledge the amount you are willing to contribute to the fighting fund now.

Before deciding how much you can afford to give, take a moment to work out how much IR35 will cost you over the next 10 years if it is not defeated. Even if you work outside IR35, how much will you lose in legal fees, and in turning down poorly drafted contracts, to ensure that you pass?

We have set a target of �250,000 by next Tuesday. That is two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling by 1700 hours on Tuesday 4th April. This will allow us to be confident of raising the rest of the money by the time it is needed.

If we meet the target this will allow us to announce the legal challenge on the date of the introduction of IR 35. Within a matter of days we will have up a credit/debit card payment system to allow us to collect your contributions as well as inviting you to renew your membership of the PCG. We would hope you renew early and your membership will run from the anniversary date you initially joined.

Can the Government come after us individually for costs?
Our lawyers assure us that they can't. PCG's limited liability will protect us. But in any case we are budgeting for the worst case. If we can't fund the case we don't go ahead.

Can I reclaim the contribution against tax?
Our advice is that this is not possible. It will come out of your company's profits.

What do I do next?
Do not send any money yet. Decide if you wish to contribute to the fighting fund. If you do, carry out one of the following:

1. Go Here and make your pledge. You will need your PCG username and password. OR if you do not have web access
2. Reply to this email with the amount you wish to pledge in the subject line. Please put no other text than the amount like this 500 (this would mean that you wished to contribute 500 pounds.

We are not taking payment details at this stage - we just want your pledge of support for the battle ahead.

If at all possible please use the URL above to pledge as this will reduce our workload.

• The date and amount needed is firm and fixed; �250,000 pledged by 1700 Hours on April 4th or we will not proceed.
• If you have any questions please raise them on the PCG forum: Here

I am sure that with your support we will give the Government a fight they had not bargained for.

Gareth Williams
PCG Chairman