Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of establishing an exemption process for freelance workers who will be subject to forthcoming IR35 legislation.

The changes to the off-payroll working rules come into effect on 6 April 2021. The changes do not introduce a new tax liability. They ensure that the current rules, which have been in place since 2000, are applied correctly and complied with as originally intended.

The rules only apply to individuals who are working like employees under the current employment status tests, and do not apply to the self-employed. It is fair that two individuals working in a similar way pay broadly the same tax and NICs, even if one of them works through their own company.

Establishing exemptions for a certain group of taxpayers, regardless of whether they are working like employees under existing employment status law, would undermine the key principle of the rules that individuals working in a similar way should pay a similar amount of tax.