Its about keeping the loophole open..... for the rich
This isn't about shutting down loopholes.
This has, and always has been, about stopping mere plebs like contractors using them.
Companies in the UK are given a very beneficial tax treatment. Wanting the same tax treatment themselves contractors looked at the law and saw becoming companies was sensible.
The problem for HMRC is then that they want to stop contractors using those rules - BUT NOT REMOVE THOSE RULES for the big boys.
That is the heart of this unfairness - all we want is a level playing field to go in as an expert consultant, do what we know how to do and move on to the next contract, and pay taxes the same way as any other UK company. That includes the ability to keep money in the company, to invest in other projects, take on admin staff, or cover future gaps in work due to sickness or just the market.
IR35 removes all of that and gives contractors the worst of both worlds - all of the costs of being an employee with all of the risks of being a company.
I'm hoping that fixed fee scoped project work becomes more likely here - but clients honestly prefer the flexibility of being able to repeatedly change the scope and accept paying at a day rate, rather than hitting a contract renegotiation every time they want to add "a quick extra feature". Having a pricing structure that gives clients the flexibility they want shouldn't make us employees, it makes us service orientated businesses.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
