Radio presenter loses IR35 case
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a sports radio presenter’s argument that IR35 didn’t apply to his engagements with TalkSPORT. What’s the full story?
The presenter engaged with TalkSPORT via a limited company. HMRC raised assessments totally £143,000 for income tax and NI, on the basis that the was caught by IR35. The First Tier Tribunal sided with the presenter, but this was overturned at the Upper Tribunal, and now the Court of Appeal has also dismissed his appeal.
The Court found that there was mutuality of obligation because Kickabout Productions Limited required TalkSPORT to offer the presenter airtime for at least 222 days per year. The contract also gave TalkSPORT the right to suspend the presenter, which is consistent with a contract of employment. The Court also confirmed that an absence of workers’ rights in the contract did not carry much weight in determining the employment status because, if there was an employment relationship, he would enjoy the rights conferred by law on employees.
This case again shows us the importance of analysing the details of each specific case before assuming the employment status of a particular engagement.
Related Topics
-
HMRC reminds employers about payrolling benefits deadlines
HMRC is reminding employers of key dates and preparations ahead of the transition to real-time payrolling of benefits in kind (BiKs). With an important voluntary registration deadline approaching, what do payroll teams need to know?
-
Why do frozen mileage rates affect VAT?
Your business pays a fixed mileage allowance to staff who use their private cars for business travel. The rates published by HMRC have been frozen since 2011 but is this relevant to determine how much input tax you can claim on the payments?
-
HMRC restarts direct recovery of tax debts from bank accounts
HMRC has resumed use of its Direct Recovery of Debts (DRD) powers, enabling it to recover unpaid tax directly from the bank accounts of businesses and individuals who have ignored repeated attempts to settle outstanding liabilities. What does this mean in practice for business owners and directors?
This website uses both its own and third-party cookies to analyze our services and navigation on our website in order to improve its contents (analytical purposes: measure visits and sources of web traffic). The legal basis is the consent of the user, except in the case of basic cookies, which are essential to navigate this website.