HMRC has added TV presenter and football legend Gary Lineker to its list of recent cases brought against high-profile people for alleged non-compliance with the intermediaries legislation, commonly known as IR35, and associated tax avoidance. Pooja Dasgupta explores the issues
Uber’s Union agreement in the UK doesn’t mean its battles are over
The Applam Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU), made up of original Aslam and Farrar Uber claimants, intends to challenge Uber while it is trying to sue in the National Court. value his business model in London, in a move claiming that it will overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling and allow Uber to avoid a billion-pound tax bill.
It would be hard to believe that if Uber had won the Supreme Court case that agreement would have been made at all, says Matthew Taylor, director general of the Royal Society of the Arts and author of the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices. “Let’s be happy, but it’s realistic. The work that drivers have done and the unions haven’t done, we wouldn’t get here.”
IR35 is a tax reform that was unveiled in 1999 by the UK tax authorities.
The reforms are part of the government s crackdown on so-called disguised employment, where workers behave as employees but avoid paying regular income tax and national income contributions by billing for their services through personal service companies (PSCs), which are taxed at lower corporate rates.
The latest regulation change will force businesses in the UK to set the tax status of their contractors and freelancers. Previously this was set by the contractors themselves. This has already been the case in the public sector for years. The change that happened in April means the rules now apply to medium and large firms in the private sector too.
National insurance has come a long way since it was first introduced 110 years ago. Has it strayed too far from its original purpose, or does it need to go further?
When national insurance (NI) was first introduced in 1911, it was more of an insurance scheme, of sorts. Employers were required to buy stamps from the post office and affix them to employees’ national insurance cards. These would act as proof that the individual was entitled to benefits once their employment ended.
The unemployment benefit element was administered by government, but health and pension insurance was provided by ‘approved societies’, including friendly societies and some trade unions.