Liberal Democrats back the Stop The Off-Payroll campaign by including IR35 roll-out review in election manifesto!
In a major boost to the Stop The Off-Payroll Tax campaign, the Liberal Democrats have announced a review of the IR35 rule changes – the Off-Payroll Tax – in their manifesto alongside scrapping the controversial loan charge.
The wording in the manifesto is “End retrospective tax changes like the loan charge brought in by the Conservatives, so that individuals and firms are treated fairly, and review recent proposals to change the IR35 rules.”
The IR35 off-payroll roll-out to the private sector is something that the Conservative Government had been intending to do before the election and had included in the draft Finance Bill published in July. They had intended to bring it in in the November budget, for it to commence in April next year. With the 6th November budget scrapped due to the election, the hope is that the next Government will scrap it and instead launch a long overdue review into the flawed IR35 legislation.
In backing a review of “the recent proposals to change the IR35 rules”, the Liberal Democrats are backing the aims of the Stop The Off-Payroll campaign, because to review the changes means halting the IR35 roll-out and to then consider how best to tax contracting and freelancing.
The Stop The Off-Payroll Tax campaign is a campaign on behalf of contractors and freelancers and supported by organisations and businesses in the sector. It was launched by ContractorCalculator in April this year. It now has 2000 individuals signed up to the campaign and is calling on individuals and businesses to ask election candidates to back the Stop The Off-Payroll Tax campaign candidate commitment; to vote to stop the Off-Payroll Tax coming in; and to review how best to tax contracting and freelancing in the tax sector.
The Off-Payroll Tax candidate commitment is asking candidates to do 3 simple things:
- To agree to oppose the roll-out of the IR35 ‘off-payroll’ rules – Off-Payroll Tax – roll-out and will do so if elected as MP in the next Parliament from 13th December 2019.
- To back a review into how contracting and freelancing should best be recognised in the tax system.
- To support and celebrate the contribution made by the UK’s 5 million self-employed people and to only back legislative changes that do this.
Candidates who back this commitment will be published on the Stop The Off-Payroll Tax website.
The Liberal Democrats full manifesto is here. The IR35 review policy is in the ‘Fair Taxes’ part of the ‘Our Plan for the Economy’ section.
Commenting, Dave Chaplin, Director of the Stop The Off-Payroll Tax campaign and CEO of ContractorCalculator said:
“It’s great news that the Liberal Democrats have listened and have included a review of the IR35 rules in their manifesto. This is testament to the hard work of Stop The Off-Payroll Tax campaigners who have been campaigning, lobbying and meeting MPs locally and in Westminster for the last nine months”.
“In calling for a review of the recent proposals to change the IR35 rules, the Liberal Democrats are backing the Stop The Off-Payroll campaign, because to review the changes means halting the IR35 roll-out and then considering how best to tax contracting and freelancing. This is excellent news and we hope other parties will follow suit and reject the damaging and ill-considered Off-Payroll Tax and like the Liberal Democrats have done, show their support for contracting and contractors.
“Following this success, we urge all contractors, freelancers and sector organisations to join our 2000 campaigners and supportive organisations, and lobby every single election candidate, asking them to help stop the Off-Payroll Tax”.