HMRC has won a tax case against Christa Ackroyd, former presenter of the BBC’s Look North programme, which centred on the issue of employment status.
Ackroyd was contracted by the BBC through her personal service company, Christa Ackroyd Media Ltd (CAM Ltd). HMRC argued that her status, for the purposes of the intermediaries legislation, was that of an employee and that CAM Ltd should account for income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) accordingly.
The first tier tax tribunal agreed with HMRC’s assessment and dismissed Ackroyd’s appeal. HMRC will now look to recover income tax and NICs that total some £419,151.Robert Woodward, Senior Manager at Saffery Champness, explained that the case demonstrated HMRC’s increasing activity in this area.
‘Businesses and organisations engaging with non-payroll workers are strongly advised to review their arrangements with those contractors to manage the tax, legal and reputational risks associated with incorrectly treating employees as contractors,’ he wrote.
HMRC’s investigation into the tax affairs of CAM Ltd looked in detail at the nature of Ackroyd’s work for the BBC. It aimed to establish whether IR35 legislation, which deems individuals to be employees for tax purposes if they are working via a limited company and, but for that company, would be an employee of the organisation they are providing services to, should be applied.
