Extension of IR35 to the private sector, Part 17 – the House of Lords takes revenge, eventually (UK)
Trying to find the most depressing part of the new House of Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee report on IR35 is not easy. There are so many possible candidates, for one thing, and as an insight into the legislative process it is little short of terrifying. Not even law by twitter like the Job Retention Scheme, but by the rank subordination to tax-raising of all other established principles of good regulation, such as that it be researched, fair, consulted upon and generally thought about to some extent before the off. So this is the report of the Lords’ Finance Bill sub-committee into the extension of IR35 to the private sector. As we know, that was due at the start of this month but has been punted down the road for a further year because of the Covid-19 crisis. The first question might therefore reasonably be why this examination is happening now when, were it not for the virus, this iteration of IR35 would already be in force. Because unfortu...