CEST Articles

HMRC’s IR35 Checker Can’t Decide on 20% of Cases

marketing | 17 December 2020

April 2021

HMRC’s controversial ‘Check Employment Status for Tax’ (CEST) tool is unable to provide an IR35 status for one-in-five contractor queries.

With a few months to go before IR35 rule changes are applied to contractors in the private sector, HMRC data shows that their online IR35 checking tool was used almost a million times in the last year.

Of the 975,416 online checks completed, the tax authority found that 505,598 (52%) were deemed outside IR35, 281,099 (29%) were classed as inside IR35 and 188,719 (19%) were undetermined, meaning the tool could not provide a definitive answer.

HMRC Pressed For IR35 CEST Tool Release Date

marketing | 3 July 2019

HMRC is under pressure to say when the new improved IR35 ‘Check Employment Status for Tax’ (CEST) tool will be released, as stakeholders point out flaws with the current version.

The tax authority has confirmed that its CEST tool will undergo enhancements before IR35 reforms are extended to the private sector from April 2020.

But so far, little is known about what updates will be applied and when the new tool will be available.

HMRC Publishes Information about its IR35 CEST Tool

marketing | 24 March 2020

HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool has been a touchy subject for contractors that want to find out if they will be inside or outside IR35.

The online tool was first introduced in 2017 to help contractors and their engagers judge employment status for tax purposes and, ultimately, how a contractor will be taxed.

The service asks a series of questions based on key legal criteria. It helps provide a judgement in most straightforward cases, with assistance in more complex cases available through a handbook and the HMRC call centre.

CEST Questions as Judge Rejects IR35 Ruling

marketing | 25 October 2018

More questions have been raised about the reliability of HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool, after a judge rejected one of the tool’s assessments.

A contractor managed to reclaim thousands of pounds in overpaid tax after the CEST tool’s ‘inside IR35’ ruling was challenged in an employment tribunal.

At first, the contractor known as Mr Elbourn went to the tribunal to try and claim back employer’s National Insurance contributions, which he thought had wrongfully been deducted by an employment agency.

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