Forum Private Sector IR35 Reform

Winners and judges react after the 2026 Contracting Awards in London, where several of last year’s victors successfully defended their titles, the first AI award was handed out, and one broker made it four in a row.

Don’t expect an IR35 rewrite on October 28th, say SG Accounting and Bright Ideas. Instead, brace for a tech-led HMRC (Caroola), a small business squeeze (Beansprout), an employment status update (Markel Tax), and a dividend allowance axe — more policy 'killing limited companies and dragging workers into umbrellas' (DNS). Plus, a new levy on £75k+ contractors.

With Churchill Knight’s tribunal due in November and one contractor facing an alleged £52,700 bill, a former HMRC specialist tests the ‘cruel’ claim, in a world of nuance and non-hypotheticals.

Four recruiters endorse the REC’s best IT contractor figures in over three years. VIQU IT and Robert Walters see firms investing in tech; Reed says hiring managers are back with clearer budgets, and First Point even credits Andy Burnham but flags a guaranteed hours ‘banana skin.’

Under HMRC scrutiny, the FCDO has put almost 90% of its contractors inside IR35, compared with a near even inside-outside split a year ago. Off-payroll working expert Charlie Hemsworth sets out 5 steps to take before your own client follows suit.

Many contractors knew that loans formed part of their remuneration arrangements. But are the debts being pursued today governed by the rules they actually agreed to?

Setting up a limited company? Your home address could end up rather more public than you bargained for. From junk mail and identity theft to keeping home and business separate, here’s what contractors should know before putting their address on Companies House, and what to do if it’s already there.

IPSE’s Josh Toovey was in the room when Andrew Griffith MP pledged to ‘replace, not reform’ IR35. Here, exclusively for ContractorUK, he sets out the three IR35 models on the table — and names the frontrunners in the eyes of the UK’s self-employment body.

Andrew Griffith says the next Conservative government will wholesale replace IR35. Two advisers who met him tell ContractorUK what they now want to see — others call it a 'slap in the face' for contractors from OPW's 'architects,' a contractor cites 4.2billion reasons HMT won't budge, and a legal adviser says he'll believe it when he sees it.

Contractors moving between PSC and umbrella arrangements face a higher risk of HMRC's tax calculation gaffe. Carl Bridges of Caroola Accountancy explains what the tech flaw dating back to 2021 means for 2025/26 tax bills, and why one-and-done is so yester-tax-year.