Government promises to launch review of changes to off-payroll rules

The government has delivered on a pre-election promise to launch a review of changes to off-payroll working rules.

In a statement released this afternoon, the government revealed the review will determine if any further steps can be taken to ensure the “smooth and successful” implementation of the reforms due to come into force on 6 April 2020. The review will also assess whether any additional support is needed to ensure that the self-employed, who are not in scope of the rules, are not affected.

The review, concluding by mid-February, will engage affected individuals and businesses on their experiences of the implementation of these reforms.

The review will also see government hold a series of roundtables with stakeholders representative of those affected by the reform, including contractor groups and medium and large-sized businesses, to understand how the government can ensure smooth implementation of the reforms and will also carry out further internal analysis, including evaluation of the enhanced Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool and public sector bodies’ experience of implementing the reform back in 2017.

As part of the review, the government says it will explore whether there are any further steps it could take to support businesses in correctly determining employment status.

Alongside the review, HMRC is to continue with its programme of education and support activities aimed at helping customers to prepare for the reform to off-payroll working rules including one-to-one engagement, webinars and workshops alongside targeted communications and support for customers and their representatives to help them prepare for implementation of the reform.

The government added it will also launch a separate review exploring how it can better support the self-employed, including improving access to finance and credit, make the tax system easier to navigate, and examining how better broadband can boost homeworking.

• Keep following recruiter.co.uk for further analysis of government’s announcement tomorrow.

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