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IR35 affects 500,000+ contractors and 60,000 UK businesses, making it one of the biggest issues to affect this sector in a generation.

We can provide you with certainty of IR35 status and the security of insurance protection from the costs of tax liabilities and HMRC enquiries.

Over 20 years of experience defending disputes

  • Since being the first to win IR35 at Tribunal in 2002, we have successfully defended more contractors at Tribunal on IR35 status than any other UK consultancy
  • One of the UK’s leading tax consultancy providers and ‘A’-rated insurer

Certainty of IR35 status and the security of insurance protection

We have been providing clients with much-needed clarity in this market and have developed a range of services designed to help all parties undertake their responsibilities and protect them from the potential tax liability:

IR35 Contract review
Our contract review service will consider the contractual terms together with the working arrangement to give a clear IR35 opinion alongside any changes required.

Survive35 TaxSafe
Designed for contractors, we have developed our market-leading Survive35 TaxSafe tax losses insurance which allows you to cover your ‘outside’ contracts and extensions and, if HMRC subsequently reclassified your engagement as ‘inside IR35’, Markel Tax will reimburse unpaid tax and NIC, interest and penalties.

Due-diligence services
Our due diligence service includes contract reviews (which include the whole supply chain from the end client through to the agency and contractor), support in drafting an SDS, as well as training and on-going support. All of this ensures end clients comply with their legislative requirements, and are certain of their IR35 status.

Feepayer Protect
Designed for the construction and agency markets, our Feepayer Protect insurance pays up to £100k in fees towards the cost of defending an HMRC enquiry, all the way to Tribunal, defends a challenge to the end client’s decision-making process, provides an experienced IR35 investigations specialist to defend your case and, if HMRC successfully argue IR35 applies, the policy pays the tax, interest and penalties for which you’d be liable.

This is becoming a contentious area of the new legislation. Genuine outsourcing occurs when end clients are passing on the responsibility for projects and services to a third party on the basis that the original end client is not determining the resourcing of these projects.

Markel Tax’s due diligence services will again ensure that the outsourcer has a robust contractual framework with both its client and the consultants it engages as freelancers. However, end clients are increasingly asking to see evidence of the outsourcers off-payroll working processes and procedures and we provide assurance reports for outsourcers to pass on to clients.

Where appropriate, we will also put a FeePayer Protect Policy to provide additional peace of mind to the entire contractual chain.

Learn more about our range of tax and insurance solutions for your contractor clients.

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Featured service

IR35 Expert

The new digital IR35 status-checking tool with integrated support from our tax consultancy experts.