Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made on implementing recent changes to legislation on IR35 with regard to intermediaries.

At Autumn Statement, the Government confirmed that reform of the off-payroll working rules in the public sector will be implemented on 6 April 2017. Draft legislation and a technical note which explains the changes was published on 5 December and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/off-payroll-working-in-the-public-sector-reform-of-the-intermediaries-legislation-technical-note/off-payroll-working-in-the-public-sector-reform-of-the-intermediaries-legislation-technical-note

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is currently consulting on the draft legislation. The consultation period closes on 1 February.

HMRC is also working with stakeholders to develop and test the new digital employment status service, which will help customers apply the off-payroll rules, making them simpler to administer. HMRC expects to provide a full version of the service for April 2017, but customers may be able to access this earlier.