IR35 Status Questionnaire
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If you would like to use this
questionnaire to submit a contract for review, please
contact Rebecca Walker or Robert Fisher on 0845 223 2727 to
arrange the necessary payment.
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(All contact details are compulsory)
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Contractor Name:
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Company Name:
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Address:
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Contact Email:
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Introduction
The purpose of this document is to allow us to gain an
understanding of the business practices of your company
as well as the working practices which relate to any
engagement(s) that you have asked Abbey Tax Protection
(ATP) to review in connection with the IR35
intermediaries legislation.
We will review this questionnaire in conjunction with
the contract(s) that you have asked us to review and we
will form an opinion as to whether the work performed
under a particular engagements is ‘caught’ by IR35, or
whether we believe it to be a ‘contract for services’.
If our opinion is that the contract “passes” i.e. not
caught by IR35, this would not stop HMRC from
challenging our opinion, but it will help your argument
with the Revenue if you can show that you have
undertaken “due diligence” and not just elected to be
outside IR35 on a whim!
In order that we can form a reasonable opinion of your
business and working practices, please provide fully
detailed answers to all questions - although if you do
not know the answer to a question, please say so – and
do not hesitate to add further information on a separate
sheet, or provide us with other documentation that you
believe would be relevant to identifying your status:
e.g. quotes that you may have provided prior to the work
being accepted, or copies of any adverts or marketing
material you might have issued to promote your business.
Notes
- In this questionnaire the term “Client” refers
to the End-User of your company’s services. Please
would you make it clear if you have ever been an
employee of the client, or have worked before on an
engagement as a contractor?
- A separate questionnaire must be completed
for each engagement to be reviewed.
- It cannot be assumed that the opinion
given on a particular contract will apply to
an extension of an engagement, as the
arrangements may have changed and the length
of time with one end-User, or indeed one
agency, might affect the outcome of the
opinion.
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A - Your Business
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Details of your business
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1. When the company was formed?
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2. What is the nature of the business?
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3. Who are the shareholders and who performs the services
within your company? (Particularly those of a fee earning
nature)
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4. Have you ever used the services of a third party to
complete an assignment (whether as a substitute or in
conjunction with your own company. This background
information will be helpful even if you have not used these
services on your current engagement)
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5. Have there been periods where you have been unable to
find assignments? (This underlines that there is a "risk"
element to your business)
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6. Any other factors you consider relevant?
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Office Facilities
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7. Does your business have office facilities? If these are
at home is there a clearly defined area within your home
used for business purposes?
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8. Please provide details of the office equipment that you
have within your business and the approximate cost of the
equipment including your annual spend on maintaining the
office facilities.
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9. Do you claim for home use as office within your accounts?
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Marketing & Promotional Activities
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10. What marketing and promotional activities do you
undertake to develop your business?
(E.g. advertising, mail shots, networking etc? what is your
annual spend on marketing & PR?)
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11. Do you have Business Stationery? (E.g. Letterhead,
Business Cards etc)
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If yes, please specify |
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12. Do you have plans to develop new products or services,
or are you working on contract tenders
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If yes, please specify |
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13. Does your business have membership of any trade
association or federation (e.g. PCG)?
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If yes, please specify |
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Business Expenses including Training
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14. Do you carry any of the following or other business
insurances
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Employer's Liability
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Professional Indemnity
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Public Liability
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Other
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15. Do you pay for your own training? How much annually?
(please provide details of any recent training, including
details on any related to new products and services that you
are hoping to offer in the future)
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16. Who prepares your accounts and submits your Corporation
Tax Returns?
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B - Your Contracting History
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17. What is your expected annual turnover from contract
assignments?
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18. Do you have other sources of business income?
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If so please specify?
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19. How many contracts have you had in the last two years?
Provide full details below
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Engagement Start Date
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End-User/Client
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Agency (if any)
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Duration
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20. If any engagement has been carried on for a year or more
with the same client, please confirm the reasons why the
contract has been running for the period it has or why it
has been extended/renewed
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21. Have you undertaken any engagements with the same client
in a period prior to the last two years?
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22. Have you worked at the same client previously as as
employee under PAYE?
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If yes, provide details (how the current engagement compares
to previous work as an employee)
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23. Do you have or have you in the past two years had, more
than one contract running at the same time?
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If yes, please specify
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C - Details of the Working Practices relating to the
engagement(s)
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24. Please explain the working relationship with your
client.
(Are you supervised on a day-to-day basis or do you simply
give periodic updates to Senior management?)
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25 a. Is there a standard working week?
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If yes, please specify |
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and if so, are you obliged to be present within those hours?
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25 b. How are you paid?
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26. Are you paid overtime?
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27. Do you provide equipment of your own in order to fulfil
the assignment?
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If yes, please specify
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28. Are you able to undertake your work away from the
client's site? Have you taken work away from the client's
site? Who decides where the work is undertaken?
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29. Do you have to comply with any client regulations or
codes of practice? Please give details (e.g. dress code?)
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30. Are you identified and/or treated differently from
employees? (for example, identity badge, car parking spaces,
telephone directory, staff discounts)
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31. Are you part of a team?
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If so, is the team made up of other contractors or employess
of you client?
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32. Do you lead a team?
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33. If you become unavailable to complete the work, or
cannot meet a deadline; whose responsibility is it to
arrange for cover/assistance?
(For example if you want to take a holiday, are ill or want
to pursue a more lucrative assignment?)
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D - The service that you are providing to the client
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The contract terms and attendant schedules often only
provide scant detail of the work being undertaken and
although the answers you give to the questions in
Section D are important, this is where we would ask you
to provide us more detailed information.
We are seeking to judge the level of control that is
being exercised over your work, which is one of the
critical factors in deciding whether or not you are
caught by IR35.
Please therefore provide information on how you are
asked to carry out the work, the reporting structure and
whether the engagement specifies deliverables that must
be delivered (particularly if this is a fixed price
contract which will impact on the profit you can expect
to earn from the engagement if timescales are not met).
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Please attach a copy of your contract wording,
assignment schedules and correspondence relating to the
engagement(s) under review. Please note, you may have to
zip all you documents together into one file before
uploading.
If you do not have an electronic copy please post the
information to:
Abbey Tax Protection
One Mitchell Court
Castle Mound Way
Rugby
Warwickshire
CV23 0UY
Or fax to 0845 223 2728 for the attention of Rebecca Walker |
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