A professional IT consultant has won an IR35 case against HMRC after it deemed him liable for £243,000 in tax under IR35 legislation.

Richard Alcock successfully appealed his case against a previous decision in March 2017 which ruled that he had to pay income tax and national insurance contributions totalling £243,324.

From the tax years of 2010 to 2015 Alcock had a personal services company called RALC Consulting Ltd which contracted with Accenture, a former employer of his, and the Department for Work and Pensions, for work on the development of the universal credit system.

Alcock’s previous employment history drew attention from HMRC which said that his continuing work for his former employer Accenture implied that he was a disguised employee. HMRC then demanded income tax payments from Alcock.

However, Alcock argued that he was self-employed during the period.

Tribunal Judge Rupert Jones noted in the decision, “The Tribunal does not accept HMRC’s submission that the long history of Mr Alcock’s previous engagement and operation of this contract in practice led to an expectation that Mr Alcock would be provided with work every business day during the course of an assignment, unless agreed otherwise, such that it crystallised into a legal obligation.”

The case centred on one of the key tests of the IR35 status known as mutuality of obligation (MOO) and control.

Alcock’s lawyer, Chris Leslie from Tax Networks, said, “"There is no question at all that he could charge just for making himself available, and neither was the client obliged to give him work or allocate work – the work has already been agreed upfront.

"So, since there was no minimum obligation to provide work and no ability to charge for just making himself available, it is clear that the key elements of mutuality, in the work/wage bargain sense, are missing, and therefore he cannot be considered an employee,” Leslie said.

HMRC has stated that it intends to appeal.