Ir35

[JulianHobbs]

Question for accountants out there:

I am considering taking on a new client who is an IT contractor (cough cough). The work I will do is just bookkeeping, stats and company tax return. I will not provide tax advice, but have concerns over the client's ability to defend an IR35 investigation (but don't know enough detail yet).

All my other contractor clients are quite clearly IR35 compliant, and this is therefore new to me. The client is aware of IR35 and is happy with their current status.

My initial reaction is to not take this client on, but I don't currently know enough to make a fair judgement. Has anybody had this situation to deal with before?

Regards
Julian
Acccountant

[Jaydee]

I don't see the need to decline the appointment although I would suggest that you make it clear either in the engagement letter or in initial correspondence that you are not verifying IR35 compliance and that your client has a duty to ensure that he advises you whether each of his contracts are inside IR35 or out.

We make it clear to all of our clients that while we are able to advise on the tax consequences of being "in" or "out", it is not part of our remit to make a ruling.

We suggest that if our client is unsure, they refer their contract to qdos for a ruling - google "IR35 qdos" if you wish to find their contact details.

[billie1]

I would refer the client to an accountant who does IR35 work.

I had a conversation with an accountant last week, asking him what the IR35 was about. He briefly explained to me adding that he don't deal with such clients as its a pain in the butt.

I had a read up on the HMRC website and IR35 isn't quite straight forward.