Press Room
Limited Company 4 Offshore 0
July has seen a further 2 contractors win their IR35 cases against HMRC. This brings the total for the year to 4 well publicized cases.
Again, the key points have been cited as substitution (although in one case this was considered to be less important but not a hindrance to victory), lack of mutuality of obligation and pointers to the contractors genuinely being in business evidenced by such things as websites.
Meanwhile contractors who used offshores schemes operated by Montpelier may face retrospective taxation following the failure of one client to head this possibility off at the Court of Appeal.
This could mean contractors who have used other offshore schemes could similarly face retrospective action. Considering HMRC are clearly continuing to focus on arrangements with an offshore element, this is likely to drive further contractors “onshore”.
