APSCo Joins the HM Revenue & Customs IR35 Forum

The Chief Executive of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), Ann Swain, said that “As the industry body that represents recruitment firms that engage a high proportion of self-employed individuals in the UK, it is important that we take a front seat in these discussions. The Government has taken the view that as far as IR35 is concerned it’s better the devil you know. Some of the alternative proposals were unsatisfactory, but with the decision taken to retain IR35 it’s important that steps are taken to drastically improve the implementation of this law. We appreciate the desire amongst the professional contracting community for clarity regarding IR35, and we expect that this Forum will deliver real improvements.”

In joining the IR35 Forum APSCo is following the lead of the Professional Contractors Group (PCG) and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). The Chair of the REC Technology Sector Group, Jeff Brooks, recently said that \”Taking part in this forum will allow the REC to push for real, substantive change in how IR35 works. We have to find a way to focus the system on the rare cases of actual disguised employment, and make sure that the vast majority of contractors who have done nothing wrong don’t have to worry about being subjected to a HMRC investigation or tribunal that could last years.”

\”It has always been the complexity of the rules, and the uncertainty they create, that has made the system unacceptable for contractors and the recruiters that find them work. This has also wasted countless hours of tax officials’ time, and it is in the interests of all sides to find a quicker, more efficient way to crack down on the few real instances of false self-employment.\”

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