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IR35 - High percentage of contractors are taking risks
06/11/2008
contractorcalculator.co.uk have recently conducted a survey that has shown many contractors are choosing to avoid confronting serious IR35 issues, despite the fact that IR35 legislation has been in force for over eight years, with many high profile IR35 cases making national headlines.
The ContractorCalculator survey highlights that:
- 52% of respondents work in IT, 21% in engineering and the remaining 27% work in construction and other sectors
- 63% of those surveyed have been in contracting for two years or less, with 17% between two and five years and 20% for more than five years
- 93% believe they are not caught by IR35, but only 24% have had their current contract professionally reviewed to verify this.
Taking action
The survey highlights the fact that there are a great many contractors who may be playing Russian roulette with their tax affairs. The reason so few contractors are caught, could be that HMRC simply does not have the resources to affectively police IR35.
Given that the state of the economy means that the Treasury is going to be seeking tax revenue from every conceivable source, it is likely HMRC will be redoubling its efforts to catch contractors.
Those who think IR35 won’t affect them would be wise to think again and start preparing for the worst to happen.
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