The House of Lords Finance Bill Sub-Committee announced Tuesday that it is investigating the off-payroll working rules, also known as IR35, and aims to hear from people and orgnisations about their views on the rules. The committee issued a call for written evidence as part of the inquiry.

“The government is proposing to extend the off-payroll working rules to large and medium-sized organisations in the private sector,” said Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, chair of the Finance Bill Sub-Committee. “We are interested in how this change will work in practice, and how it relates to wider changes in working arrangements.”

While the rules are already in place in the public sector, plans call for extending them into the private sector starting in April. The rules would mean businesses will be responsible for whether the contractors they hire are liable to pay income tax and national insurance contributions, and if so, for paying those sums.

“While we welcome this inquiry into IR35 reform, we can’t help but wonder why it wasn’t held months ago,” Seb Maley, chief executive of IR35 specialist Qdos, told the Financial Times. “Nonetheless, it's an opportunity for contractors, agencies, businesses and experts to have their voices heard.”

The Freelancer & Contractor Services Association also welcomed the investigation.

“The investigation will consider a wide range of issues, so it’s essential that anyone with a view gets involved and uses the opportunity to influence those in power,” Julia Kermode, chief executive of the association, said in a statement. 

Issues the sub-committee aims to cover in the inquiry include:

• Existing measures in the public sector
  • What has been the experience of the new rules in the public sector?
  • What lessons have been learned from this experience?
• Impact of the new rules on organisations
  • Has the impact of the extension of the rules to the private sector been adequately assessed?
  • Is the exclusion of small organisations sufficiently robust?
  • What effect will these new measures have on a chain of contractors and sub-contractors?
  • What should HMRC do to help businesses understand the new administrative rules?
• Determining tax status of workers
  • Are the tests for determining employment for the purposes of these rules sufficiently clear to both engager and worker?
  • What is your assessment of the Check Employment Status for Tax, CEST, tool?
  • Does the CEST require improvement? If so, how might it be improved?
• Policy objectives
  • In your opinion, are there better or simpler ways in which the objective of the new rules might be achieved?
  • Will the bill, as drafted, achieve the government’s objectives?

Written evidence is being accepted until 25 February.