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27th August 2010
HMRC likely to remain focused on IR35
HMRC is likely to remain focused on IR35 tax legislation despite softening its stance on tax avoidance, an expert has claimed.
The organisation recently announced it is to be “less combative” when dealing with tax issues with businesses, in a bid to ease a growing backlog of disputes and free up billions of pounds from pending cases.
Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at HMRC, said a less stringent stance could significantly boost revenue over the next two years.
It is thought that this could bring an end to protracted IR35 cases, which many contractors have been involved in since the introduction of the regulations in 1999.
However, ContractorCalculator CEO Dave Chaplin said the contentious tax system is still likely to be closely monitored, and advised contractors to ensure they are in full compliance.
“This move could signal the taxman focusing more on those contractors clearly within IR35, rather than trying to make case law with more complex, expensive litigation. So it remains as important to be IR35-aware as it has ever been,” he said.
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