IR35 will be abolished, Small Business Minister Mark Prisk confirmed in an interview with Richard Tyler in today’s Daily Telegraph.
“We want to make sure that we could undertake a comprehensive review of small business taxation in a way that makes the need for the current IR35 legislation redundant,” Prisk is reported as saying. “But we want to make sure whatever we change is a lasting settlement. One of the problems with IR35 is that it's a constantly changing set of rules."
PCG chairman Chris Bryce says: “Our talks with both parties in the coalition when they were in opposition gave us the confidence that if they were in government they would tackle the problem of IR35. Today ... there is now real momentum behind the abolition of IR35.
“We are delighted that Mark Prisk has said publicly what he has said to us privately and we are very pleased that important organisations like Grant Thornton, FSB and other leading bodies now take the same view as us.” Bryce continues: “There is still much work to be done, but we hope we can work with the government and these other organisations to find a fair and acceptable settlement for all freelancers and contractors.”
According to the Daily Telegraph, the small business taxation review, which included the review of IR35, is expected be launched this summer. ContractorCalculator will keep contractors updated as this story develops.