Following the delay to the introduction of off-payroll working in the private sector, the government are introducing some amendments to the original proposals, as listed below.
Changes postponed until April 2021
On 17th March 2020, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury announced that there is a delay to the extension of the off-payroll working to the private sector. The extension to the private sector was due to begin from 06 April 2020, however this has been delayed by 12 months to 06 April 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Amendments to the Finance Bill
Following feedback from affected businesses and individuals, in February 2020 the government announced some revisions to the rules. Previously, the rules would have applied to any payments made to the PSC (personal service companies) on or after 6 April 2020. The amendment now means that the rules will only apply to payments made for services provided on or after 6 April 2021
A further amendment means that all businesses now have a statutory obligation to confirm whether they are a small business (in the context of prescribed criteria), to determine whether they will be bound by these rules.
There were some further concerns from those in the industry as to how the rules will apply if the client is overseas. In response to these concerns, the government has now announced that the rules will exclude wholly overseas companies with no UK presence. This means that if an individual works for an organisation who is overseas, the individual’s limited company will continue to ascertain the employment status of the individual.
