As announced today (7th February 2020), HMRC has proposed a minor change to the implementation of the off-payroll reforms in order to allow businesses more time to prepare. The change ensures that the new rules will only apply to payments made in relation to work done on or after the 6th April, whereas previously the new rules would apply simply to all payments made on or after the 6th April (which meant that work carried out before that date would have fallen in-scope of the new rules). The impact that this change will have will affect some contracts more than others; those benefitting the most from the change being those engagements with longer payment terms where, under the old proposals, work done for a number of weeks before the 6th April could have fallen in the scope of the new rules.
Whilst this minor change gives businesses a bit more time to prepare, it should also be seen as further confirmation that the reforms are actually going ahead and that therefore they should press forward with carrying out valid assessments and producing status determination statements.
