Contracting authority ContractorCalculator has learned that Kaye Adams has won her IR35 case against HMRC as the Upper-Tier Tribunal today confirmed the finding of the First-Tier Tribunal in 2019 that she is a freelancer and is in business on her own account, as she works for a variety of broadcasters, newspapers and magazines: https://www.gov.uk/tax-and-chancery-tribunal-decisions/the-commissioners-for-hm-revenue-and-customs-v-atholl-house-productions-limited-2021-ukut-0037-tcc
Adams had successfully appealed the challenge to her self-employed status covering a BBC engagement during the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 tax years but HMRC appealed that decision.
Commenting on the verdict, Dave Chaplin, CEO of ContractorCalculator and IR35 Shield who has followed the case closely said: “Today’s news could provide considerable comfort to other media-based freelancers. Kaye Adams was found to be providing personal service, mutual obligations were satisfied and there was a sufficient framework of control – but yet, she was found “outside IR35”, purely on the grounds that she was in business on her own account. HMRC’s contentious and flawed CEST tool would not agree.
“The decision highlights a known flaw in the design of the new Off-Payroll legislation that is due to be rolled out to the private sector in April, namely, that a client won’t have all the information it needs to evaluate a freelancer’s status and will only be able to look at a partial picture. This means that many contractors who could be ‘outside IR35’ because, like Ms Adams, they are in business on their own account, will be judged by clients as ‘inside IR35’ with no route to natural justice.
“Whilst this ruling provides some certainty on the right way to assess by looking at the whole picture, when it comes to practicalities it has also thrown a massive spanner in the works.”
