The government is currently consulting on new legislation to tackle ‘false self-employment’, following measures announced in this year’s Budget by Chancellor Alistair Darling according to Danbro, the specialist accountancy firm for contract and freelance workers.

The consultation outlines the government’s proposal for ensuring construction workers, who it considers to be working effectively as employees, are taxed appropriately and In its opinion, the best way to achieve this is through legislation. False self-employment occurs where workers are treated as self-employed for tax and National Insurance purposes, even though the way in which they work on a day-to-day basis indicates an ‘employment relationship’.