UKRI hit with £36m IR35 bill, taking non-compliance in public sector to £300m

Non-departmental funding physique UK Analysis and Innovation (UKRI) should pay HM Income & Customs (HMRC) £36m in back-dated tax.

As reported in Laptop Weekly, UK Analysis and Innovation (UKRI), revealed in its annual accounts for 2021/21 that HMRC deemed that it had misclassified contractors’ IR35 standing and consequently, owed £36m in tax.

UKRI is a physique sponsored by the Division for Science, Innovation and Know-how (DSIT). It’s the newest public sector physique to have mismanaged the off-payroll working guidelines.

The tax payments issued to public sector our bodies as a result of non-compliance now quantity to roughly £300m.

IR35 specialist Qdos CEO, Seb Maley, commented: “Public sector our bodies have now been hit with round £300m value of IR35 payments. It’s astonishing. These our bodies ought to be main by instance, displaying non-public sector companies the right way to efficiently handle the off-payroll working guidelines.

“I’m unsure what’s extra worrying – the sheer dimension of this invoice or the truth that it’s one thing we’ve come to anticipate within the public sector. And I can’t assist however surprise who’s subsequent.

“It’s troublesome to not see the irony on this one. As a physique that champions innovation, attending to grips with the off-payroll working guidelines shouldn’t be a difficulty for UKRI in principle.

“It’s picket {dollars} within the public sector, but when a non-public sector enterprise was hit with a £36m invoice, it might be curtains. With this in thoughts, non-public sector companies should prioritise their compliance.”