Government confirms a review of the private sector reforms

On November 30th the Chancellor advised that Government would carry out a review of the IR35 private sector reforms which are due to be rolled-out in April 2020. Today Government have confirmed that the review is taking place and defined the scope of the review.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jesse Norman said: “We recognise that concerns have been raised about the forthcoming reforms to the off-payroll working rules. The purpose of this consultation is to make sure that the implementation of these changes in April is as smooth as possible. The review, which will conclude by mid-February, will engage with affected individuals and businesses on their experiences of the implementation of these reforms.”

The purpose of this consultation is to make sure that the implementation of these changes in April is as smooth as possible.

The Finance Secretary went onto to say that the review will include holding a series of roundtables with stakeholders representative of those affected by the reform, including contractor groups and medium and large-sized businesses, to understand how the government can ensure smooth implementation of the reforms. Further internal analysis of the enhanced Check employment status for tax (CEST) tool will also be conducted along with taking into account the public sector bodies’ experience of implementing the reform to the off-payroll working rules in 2017.

As predicted last year we still expect these changes to come into effect as planned on 6th April 2020. Our advice is simple, if you haven’t already done so, start preparing for this change now. If you aren’t sure of your options then PayStream are here to help. Simply contact our agency support team on 0161 923 0204 or email agency_support@paystream.co.uk for more information.