IPSE ready to respond to “disastrous” IR35 changes in the March 2020 Budget
IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) is ready to comment on any announcements in the Budget on the roll-out of the “disastrous” changes to IR35 to the private sector. It has spokespeople ready to comment as well as case studies.
Recent IPSE research showed that almost one third (32%) of freelancers are planning to stop contracting in the UK because of the changes to IR35.
One in seven freelancers (13%) plan to find contracts abroad, one in ten (11%) plan to stop working or retire early and almost one in ten (8%) plan to move into employment. Half of freelancers also said they will only continue freelancing if they can find contracts to which the new off-payroll working rules do not apply.
97 per cent of freelancers said they are either “fairly” (18%) or “very” (79%) concerned about the changes to IR35. 92 per cent also said they think that working inside IR35 and paying employee National Insurance Contributions without employee rights is unfair.
In terms of client businesses, two out of five (39%) of freelancers said their clients will stop using outside-IR35 contractors. Instead, they will either make blanket-assessments that their contractors are all “inside IR35” (20%), engage them through umbrella companies (14%), move their contractors onto PAYE (13%), or stop engaging contractors altogether (11%).
