Vagueness of IR35 must be banished, says IoD
The Institute of Directors has said that it is good news that the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) is starting to look at IR35 and that the rule should be simplified to lighten the burden on business.
However, the business group argues, it is very important that the Government should accept the OTS's recommendations when they appear, or give very good reasons for rejecting them. Anything else would indicate that the Government is not fully committed to tax simplification.
The IoD makes the following key points:
- IR35 needs to be simplified. It was introduced in 2000 as a solution, but it has itself become the problem. It burdens business people with lengthy tax investigations that very often produce no result for the Revenue. It applies vague criteria, so neither business people nor the Revenue can predict the outcome of an investigation, even once all of the facts are known.
- In its initial submission to the OTS, the IoD analyses the problem and the constraints on possible solutions, and sets out a framework within which an alternative could be constructed.
- The key thing is to ensure that new tests to determine tax treatment can be applied mechanically. Vagueness must be banished. And there needs to be an initial screening test, to take as many businesses as possible out of the scope of the successor to IR35 before they have to get down to the detailed tests.
Richard Baron, Head of Taxation at the IoD, said: "The Office of Tax Simplification is very well-placed to come up with something better than the current dog's dinner of IR35. It has both the expertise, and the necessary remit to take the views of outsiders.
"The real challenge will be for the Government. Will it show that it means business about tax simplification, by accepting the Office's recommendations when they appear or giving a watertight reason for rejecting them?
"The Office should not pull its punches. It should make a strong case for its preferred solution, and put Ministers on the spot."