The key points are:
- Private sector clients will be responsible for assessing contactors’ IR35 status from April 2020, shifting this responsibility from contractors as has been the case since IR35 was first introduced
- When assessing IR35 status, clients must complete a status determination, so in theory there can be no blanket assessments placing contractors inside IR35. However, clients can still insist that their contractors go on the payroll
- Calls for an independent appeals process have been ignored. Instead, a new ‘client-led status disagreement process’ is to be introduced. As a result, if a contractor disputes their status assessment they can only appeal to their client, who may have an interest in their contractors being inside IR35
- Small companies remain exempt from the new legislation, as defined by the Companies Act.
