Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that (a) have been and (b) will be lost in the UK as a result of the planned IR35 off-payroll roll-out.

The off-payroll working rules are designed to ensure that someone working like an employee, but through a company, pays similar levels of tax to other employees. It is fair that individuals who work in a similar way should pay broadly the same amount of tax. The rules do not apply to the self-employed or stop anyone working through their own company.

The Government has not seen any evidence that indicates an overall change in demand for the services and skills that contractors offer. Independent research on the impacts of the reform in the public sector showed that it did not reduce market flexibility or impact use of contingent labour. This research will be updated and shared with parliament before the reform applies in April 2021. Furthermore, at Budget 2018 the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) did not judge the upcoming reform to have any specific macroeconomic impacts.

The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published in July 2019 sets out HMRC’s assessment that the reform is expected to impact 170,000 individuals working through their own company, who would be employed if engaged directly. Those who are complying with the existing rules should feel little impact. The TIIN can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020.