By Lisa Burroughes, 10 November 1999 00:15
NEWS The government's IR35 proposals in the Welfare Reforms and Pensions Bill look set to become law after the House of Lords passed the proposals earlier this week. Clauses 71 and 72 of the Bill target one-person service companies using limited company status to avoid paying full tax and National Insurance. Experts had expected the Lords to vote it out of the Bill a second time after the House of Commons voted to reintroduce it on Wednesday last week. However, while the Lords did return the Bill to the Commons over the issue of disability benefit, they did not take the IR35 issue to vote, so those proposals will go ahead. However, IT contractor representatives remain optimistic. Susie Hughes from the Professional Contractors Group said: "We have come out a lot stronger in terms of awareness. We are now going to move into a different area of how the Bill should be implemented, so it is not over yet." Both the Inland Revenue and the Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo have assured opposition MPs and contractor representative organisations that it will meet for further consultation over implementation in the coming months, after which IR35 will be included in the Finance Act next year.
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