The new Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, has announced that the UK government will scrap the 2017 and 2021 reforms to the IR35 off-payroll working rules.
“Reforms to off-payroll working have added unnecessary complexity and cost for many businesses”, said the Chancellor during his mini Budget statement on Friday morning (September 23).
IR35 reform in the public sector was introduced in 2017, and saw public sector bodies become responsible for determining the IR35 status of contractors; the responsibility shifted from the contractor to the end client. Alongside this, the liability shifted from the contractor to the fee-paying party in the supply chain.
IR35 reform in the private sector in 2021 mirrored this, however, applied only to medium and large businesses. Small companies remained exempt.
More information on this to come as the government publish details as to how and when this will be reversed.