Re: Downvoters, get ready ....
"none of the independent contractors that complained about IR35 ever left the country, or went into veterinary medicine, became a trappist monk, or all the other dire threats of leaving the IT world"
There is a reason for this: IR35, when applied correctly by the courts, did not apply to the vast majority of contractors. They were independent consultants before and after, and they didn't have to pay the additional taxes* involved.
HMRC have realised this is the case and are trying to twist things around so that, rather than a small number being inside and them having to investigate and prove this, the default will be to assume that everyone is inside and it's up to the contractor (and end client, agency etc) to prove they are outside. This is because they are lazy (they don't want to do the work of investigating) and incompetent (even when they do investigate, it gets challenged in court and overturned).
* Although there is very little additional tax to be paid: Factor in both corporation and dividend taxes and a contractor and his company will pay a very similar amount to an employee. What is missing is Employer's NI. If, as HMRC suggest, contractors are actually employees of the end client, then it is not the contractor but the end client who is avoiding tax.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
