IR35 Limited Company Contractor
Oaktree offers contractors a bespoke service, not one size fits all.
If you are new to contracting, the strange setup of wearing two hats – one as employee of the company, one as shareholder – takes some time getting your head round. You’ll get explanations in plain English in meetings, by phone and e-mail so that by the end of your first year it will all be water off a duck’s back.
Whether you are a newbie or an old hand, the Oaktree approach to IR35 will help you to have a very robust defence in place. Every year-end you’ll know exactly how much more tax you’d have paid if you were caught by IR35.
But more importantly, you’ll get a list of all the events and situations during the year which have helped your cause in defending IR35. From major events like having your hours cut to three-day weeks, to apparently trivial things like not being able to park your car in the client car park, it all helps.
Over time this builds into a detailed list of points indicating that this contractor operating under this contract was genuinely self-employed. So if HMRC come calling, you’ll know your reply will be speedy but also specific to your own situation.
In other words, the exact opposite of a generic reply saying that the contract terms are outside IR35. Hopefully the HMRC inspector will be wide awake and realise that your detailed and specific response makes you a tough nut to crack.