HMRC has lost a first-tier tribunal involving presenter Kaye Adams.
The tax authority argued that Adams, who also hosts a show for BBC Radio Scotland, was a BBC employee and not a freelancer, so should be taxed under the IR35 regime.
Adams’ company, Atholl House Productions, brought an appeal against a PAYE tax bill of £81,000 and £43,000 for National Insurance contributions for the period between March 2015 and March 2017, during which Adams presented the BBC’s The Kaye Adams Show.
The tribunal ruled that Adams was a freelancer with roles outside the BBC and did not have employee rights at the company.
In a similar case last month, a tribunal ruled that presenter Lorraine Kelly was a contractor, and a theatrical artist, rather than an ITV employee.
The IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) has warned that HMRC’s tax case defeat by Kaye Adams shows it does not understand its own IR35 legislation.
Andy Chamberlain, IPSE’s deputy director of policy, said: “This is the fifth of six IR35 cases HMRC has lost since it made its disastrous changes to IR35 in the public sector in 2017.
“This should be a loud warning bell to the government not to extend the hugely damaging changes to IR35 to the private sector next April. When HMRC clearly cannot understand these tax laws, how can they possibly expect businesses across the UK to?
“The self-employed sector is one of the UK economy’s most valuable assets, contributing £275bn every year. Now of all times, the government must protect this dynamic and productive sector, not stifle it with tangled and ill-conceived regulations.”
