MP calls for IR35 to be abolished to win election

David Davis MP has called for a cancellation of IR35, as a way to help Conservatives win the next election. But will other MPs listen? Dave Chaplin of IR35 Shield offers his take on the situation

Davis made his view known in a Telegraph article highlighting that voters often vote with their pockets and in a cost of living crisis that could be more true than ever.

“Most elections are decided on economic issues, and the next will be no different,” writes Davis.

“Jobs, wages, standards of living: these require a serious plan. We need a tax structure that encourages investment and rewards hard work. The much-touted 2 per cent off income tax would be a start, but is not enough by itself,” he suggests.

There are other low-cost measures that could have dramatic effects. The cancellation of IR35, for instance, would hand greater freedom to the self-employed and smaller businesses. “

Conservative days in power are numbered

Dave Chaplin, CEO of IR35 compliance IR35 Shield has welcomed David Davis’s call.

“The disaster that is IR35 version 2, namely Off-payroll, is what happens when people living in ivory towers at HMRC invent new taxes and get them waived through Parliament by MPs who are too busy focused on the Boris Johnson circus and cheap headlines, instead of carefully scrutinising legislation,” says Chaplin.

Chaplin credits that David Davis and other MPs understood that Off-payroll was damaging and tried to delay it for at least 2 years, and almost succeeded.

“Game on”

Chaplin explains his part in the highly contested IR35 impact on the economy and the freelance economy:

“When I led the Stop The Off-payroll Tax Campaign, I was told that the reason the delay vote on 1st July 2020 was prevented from getting enough votes, was due to personal intervention by Boris Johnson. But, as David Davis MP says, that circus has now left town.

“Out of the near half a million contractors, due to be affected by IR35, only 3,868 joined the campaign and tried to fight. Imagine what would happen if the other 496,000 spoke to their MPs as we head into the next election. It’s game on.”

Want to keep updated on the latest news and views impacting the contractor and freelance economy? Sign up for our weekly newsletters. 👇👇👇

To read Davis’ article, go here.

To contact him directly, email here.