News & Case Study Archive

Another IR35 loss for HMRC

Atholl House Productions Ltd v HMRC We recently commented on the IR35 case lost by HMRC concerning the ITV presenter, Lorraine Kelly . This week, HMRC have added to their tally of losses as the First-tier tax tribunal (‘FTT’), have handed down their judgment on the IR35 case pursued by HMRC against BBC radio presenter Kaye Adam’s company, Atholl […]

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Court of Appeal confirms Costelloe is an MSC Provider

As highlighted alongside our newsletter last week, the Court of Appeal has handed down it’s judgment in the case of Christianuyi Limited & Others v HM Revenue & Customs . There is some significance to this case, because – despite the fact that the rules have been around for some 12 years – it remains the first and only decided case on the Managed […]

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VAT is Changing: Making Tax Digital for VAT

“HMRC’s ambition is to become one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world”. With the intention of increasing effectiveness and efficiency, ultimately, to make it easier to get tax right, Making Tax Digital (MTD) fundamentally changes the way the tax system works. VAT is at the forefront of MTD and accordingly, in […]

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Government announces plans for Labour Market reform

Many of you will have seen the widely reported news this morning across various media outlets that a raft of new employment legislation in the gig economy and agency sectors comes into force today. Firstly, to reassure all our clients, no such thing is happening. What has actually happened is that the government has released […]

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Information request exposes flaws in IR35 litigation

On 22 August 2018 HMRC published a response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) for details of status cases that have been tested against its Check Employment Status for Tax (“CEST”) tool. There is little commentary to accompany or explain the document, other than as follows: The Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) rules were developed […]

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Blakely v On-Site Recruitment Solutions Ltd & Heritage Solutions City Ltd (Debarred) UKEAT/0134/17/DA

A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal has generated a number of headlines, being hailed as a “ground breaking victory against bogus self-employment” by the union Unite, who’s member had brought the appeal. The case concerned a pipe-fitter, Mr Blakely who had responded to an advert from an employment agency, On-Site Recruitment Limited (‘On-Site’), […]

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Tax Tribunal confirms TV presenter’s IR35 assessments

Tax Tribunal confirms TV presenter’s IR35 assessments The First-tier Tax Tribunal has decided that TV Presenter Christa Ackroyd was a disguised employee of the BBC in relation to her company’s contract with the corporation between 2006 and 2013. This is the first ‘proper’ IR35 case since way back in 2011 (ignoring the Big Bad Wolff case last year which […]

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Employer vicariously liable for data protection breach

Data protection breaches – Can an employer be liable even if they are not directly responsible for the breach and have taken all reasonable steps to protect personal data? Yes, is perhaps the surprising answer given by the High Court in the recent case of Various Claimants v Wm Morrisons Supermarket PLC [2017] EWHC3113 (QB) […]

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HMRC fires warning shot at construction industry

Many of our construction industry clients have reported receiving a worrying letter from HMRC in the last couple of weeks. The letter concerns the employment status of construction workers, and gives the distinct impression that HMRC are on the verge of carrying out an investigation into their businesses. Firstly, to reassure our construction sector readers, […]

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The end of Employment Tribunal fees

As we recently reported, the Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that the charging of fees by the Employment Tribunal (ET) and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) since 2013 was unlawful. This decision has led to the ET and the EAT immediately ceasing to charge any fees. However, a number of important questions remain. Firstly, what will happen […]

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