Re: It's not that hard
Exactly right. HMRC are woefully incompetent* at interpreting the law in IR35 cases. IIRC over 99% of "inside IR35" determinations by HMRC are successfully challenged without proceeding to tribunal, and the vast majority which reach tribunal are found to be outside.
For one, this is a massive waste of tax payer money, purely down to the fact that those in HMRC don't understand* the rules correctly. For another, this is why the new rules are being brought in: They are hoping that large companies won't accept the risks of outside IR35 contracts. I know that, in many cases, they are wrong: Several of the large clients I deal with have said that they are willing to take the risk, and have large legal budgets available to challenge HMRC's idiocy*. This may all backfire...
* I am giving HMRC the benefit of the doubt, here, and assuming it's incompetence. I'm not certain that assumption is valid: they could be intentionally trying to break the law.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
