HMRC wins IR35 case against BBC presenter Ackroyd
HM Revenue & Customs has won an IR35 case against former BBC Look North presenter Christa Ackroyd at tribunal.
Court documents reveal Ackroyd’s appeal covered the tax years of 2006-07 to 2012-13, with HMRC claiming she owed outstanding tax and National Insurance Contributions of £419,151.
In April last year, changes were introduced to IR35 legislation as a way of cracking down on the use of limited companies, also known as personal service companies (PSCs), in the public sector that the government believed were being used to avoid tax.
In this case, Ackroyd argued that for the purposes of IR35 legislation she was a self-employed contractor and that her PSC CAM Ltd owed no further tax liabilities. However, the tribunal dismissed her appeal ruling that in their qualitative assessment she was an employee under a hypothetical contract, adding the services provided by Ackroyd were provided under a contract directly between the BBC and Ackroyd, so Ackroyd would be regarded for income tax purposes as an employee of the BBC.
Commenting on the case, Dave Chaplin, CEO and founder of ContractorCalculator, an online portal for freelancers and contractors said: “Whilst the case looks clear cut, it appears the tribunal made a decision based on facts cherry-picked by HMRC and HMRC has effectively put her out of a job; HMRC did not even speak to her before making its judgement and reached its conclusion on inadequate information.
“Looking at the bigger picture, HMRC has an impossible task ahead of itself as it plans to roll out its IR35 reforms into the private sector. The reforms have had a devastating impact on the public sector and this case highlights the need to pause, take stock and reflect before steamrolling ahead with its plans and give UK plc time to plan for any changes.”
When approached for comment by Recruiter, an HMRC spokesperson said: “Employment status is never a matter of choice; it is always dictated by the facts and when the wrong tax is being paid we put things right.”
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