In making this change, the Government has moved the accountability and responsibility for compliance with IR35 back up the supply chain, and away from the PSC. The immediate effect on us, here at Methods, will be an increase in the work we need to complete before an assignment can commence with our clients. We have established the new processes to follow in order to comply with the new rules.

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It is important to note that these new rules change who does the IR35 assessment, and who bears the liability if the assessment is done wrong. They do not change the rules themselves that determine whether or not a role is inside or outside of IR35 on any particular assignment.​

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Where our public sector clients have been supplied contractor’s labour (as opposed to providing an outcomes-based service)  by Methods, the new rules do not represent any major change. Our public sector customers continue to be responsible for doing assessments on contractors supplied by Methods for these engagements.

 

Where our private sector clients have been supplied contractors by Methods, the new rules have now changed who does the assessment. From 6 April our private sector customers are responsible for doing assessments on contractors supplied by Methods for these engagements.

 

Where our clients have been receiving a service from Methods, whether in the private or public sector, our clients under both the old and new rules are not responsible for performing IR35 assessments on any contractors we engage for those services. responsible for performing IR35 assessments on any contractors we engage for those services. From the 6th April 2021 this became the responsibility of Methods, previous to this it was the contractor’s PSC who was responsible for their IR35 assessment.

 

The direct administrative impact on our clients will, therefore, be small.