Qdos Contractor interviewed two of their clients to find out what they thought about the IR35 enquiry they experienced first-hand…
Qdos: When did you decide to become a contractor?
Tracey: I’d worked in IT for many years on government systems, and I’d taken a voluntary exit package, and a contract opportunity presented itself which suited me, so I decided to go contracting.
John: I worked for DWP for 20 years. I left there and worked for a private IT company, got made redundant from there and at that point in time, that’s when I decided to become an IT contractor, and that was in 2009.
Qdos: Can you tell me a bit about the IR35 enquiry that you experienced?
Tracey: Everybody around me was getting letters or had previously been investigated, even though we were all working on the same project, doing similar roles. I felt it was only a matter of time before it was my turn so I took out the insurance and within about 6 weeks, I got the letter from HMRC. The worst thing about it was the fact that it’s very prolonged, it went on for 18 months, and it’s very unpleasant having that hanging over you all that time.
John: HMRC, they were just relentless in their pursuit of trying to get the result that they wanted, regardless of, you know, what that entailed. So I was just kind of really, really under a lot of pressure at that point in time, and it lasted for about 20 months so you can imagine that it was pretty stressful.
Qdos: If you didn’t have support from Qdos, what do you think the IR35 enquiry would have been like for you and your business?
Tracey: If I had not had the support from Qdos, it would have had a detrimental effect on my business. It would have been a huge distraction for me on a daily basis dealing with all of that, and my understanding of IR35 wouldn’t have been sufficient to have fought my argument successfully.
John: If I had had to deal with the HMRC enquiry on my own, I wouldn’t have known where to start, wouldn’t have known what to do, probably would’ve maybe lost the enquiry, and that could have been detrimental to my business, it could have even maybe folded, you just don’t know.
Qdos: What kind of support did Qdos give you?
Tracey: TLC [Tax Liability Cover] insurance provides cover should you be investigated by HMRC, it provides some financial cover should the outcome result in penalties, and also provides you with a tax specialist to represent you in dealing with HMRC, which was the best part of it for me. The representative that I dealt with was really easy to talk to, and felt he was a knight in shining armour getting me through all of that.
John: Qdos helped me with the IR35 enquiry by taking a lot of pressure off me, they basically dealt with HMRC directly, fielded all the awkward questions with them, they let me know when I needed to provide any information, and basically helped me in how to put that together and what to say.
Qdos are currently offering 20% off their full IR35 insurance – Tax Liability Cover – throughout the month of November. Enter code NOVTLC20 at checkout. Visit Qdos Contractor.
This is a very poor sales pitch considering the HMRC are under staffed. Being selected for Audit is like winning the lottery, or, you were reported. Still a poor sales pitch.
Agreed Colin, but I’m told …. some people do win the lottery :p
However, yes – a sales pitch of an article!