The RHA has been alarmed at a growth in tax evasion and the increasing market pressure on firms to break HMRC rules. They received a letter from HMRC dated 6 April warning of the implications of false self-employment.
“Some firms and drivers know they are breaking the law, others perhaps are less sure,” says RHA director of policy Jack Semple. “Various organisations and driver agencies have been promoting schemes that are unlawful.
“One myth is that you can set up a personal service company and think that allows you to be a self-employed lorry driver for other people. It doesn’t. Another myth is that if you drive for several firms, not just one, you can be self-employed. The number of firms you drive for is irrelevant. The rule is that when you drive for another firm, or for a whole series of other firms, you have to be treated as an employee on all occasions.
Self-employment is OK for genuine owner-drivers, who have their own operating licence and haulage business – but anyone driving a lorry for another company cannot be self-employed.
HMRC is tightening enforcement across the economy and is well aware of what is happening in haulage and logistics, and will impose back-tax and penalties. As HMRC says in its letter on the RHA website, ‘a lot of our work is in private so you may not have heard about it’.
The potential issues are, however, not restricted to tax and NI bills. Employers could find themselves being subject to employment rights claims, especially for holiday pay.
The RHA is supporting HMRC in its enforcement effort. It recently presented on the subject in the House of Commons, at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Freight Transport, and has highlighted the HMRC rules at a series of member briefings around the country.
