IR35 questioned

FSB calls for halt to IR35 changes The Federation of Small Businesses has called on politicians to put the self-employed "front and centre when drawing-up business policies for their election manifestos” warning that confidence among sole traders is in negative territory for a fifth consecutive quarter. The federation said that the self-employed were finding it particularly hard to raise finance and called for a delay to the expansion of IR35 rules into the private sector until confidence has improved. Mike Cherry, national chairman of the FSB, said: "Against such an uncertain backdrop, the self-employed certainly don't need an IR35 rule change that makes hiring contractors less attractive. We've already heard noises from big corporates to indicate that, if this change does take effect in April as planned, they'll pull the plug on sole traders. Common sense dictates that a delay to the April roll-out of these rules is now needed."