The off-payroll working rules consider whether someone providing services through an intermediary would be an employee for tax purposes if engaged directly.
A personal service company does not, by itself, decide the answer. Each engagement needs to be considered on its own facts.
Identify who is responsible
Responsibility for assessing status depends on the client and the applicable rules. Public-sector and qualifying private-sector clients have responsibilities, while the intermediary normally remains responsible for engagements with small private-sector clients.
Check the current off-payroll framework, including the client-size rules, before deciding who should operate deductions.
Review the working relationship
Relevant questions include:
- Must the individual provide the service personally?
- What control does the client have over the work?
- What obligations exist between the parties?
- Who bears financial risk and corrects defective work?
- Who provides equipment, and how is the work organised?
Written terms should reflect what happens in practice. A substitution clause or a description of someone as a contractor is not a stand-alone answer.
Consider the contracts throughout the engagement chain, not just the agreement closest to the worker.
Understand the consequences
Where the rules apply, employment-tax deductions or a deemed employment payment may be required under the relevant regime. The treatment of expenses and subsequent payments from the company also needs attention.
Managed service company rules are a separate consideration for arrangements operated by a scheme provider.
Keep the assessment, supporting facts and any client determination. Revisit them if the working arrangements change. We can help review the evidence and the company’s resulting accounting and tax obligations.