What do hiring businesses need to do to ensure their businesses are meeting the new rules and requirements?
IR35 can feel like a complex mess when it comes to hiring creatives. Uncertainty leads to many nightmares arising and loopholes left open. To avoid this, Wishu outlines how best to avoid confusion when it comes to hiring creatives inside and outside IR35. 

What actions should I take to ensure I comply with the new IR35 rules?
Here are some good indicators that the creative you’re hiring is outside IR35 and won’t be registered as an employee;

• The have their own company website and business e-mail address

• They hold appropriate small business insurance

• They are VAT registered

• They have business cards, marketing brochures, flyers, etc. for their business

• They use their own equipment on projects

• They have their own business address/office (even if it’s at home).

How can I demonstrate that I am hiring a creative outside of IR35?
The best way to evidence the assignment as outside IR35 is to ensure that the contract and the working practices of the creative show they are an independent contractor and not a ‘disguised employee’.

The 3 main things to consider are the following:

Supervision and control
If you, as the client decipher when, how and where the creative works then it’s likely your assignment is inside IR35.

Substitution
If the freelancer is replaceable – i.e if issues were to arise you could get another graphic designer in to do exactly the same job tomorrow – then the assignment is outside IR35.

Mutuality of Obligation
This third principle looks at whether the client is obliged to offer the creative work and whether they are obliged to accept any work offered. A self-employed worker will not expect to be offered work beyond the contracted assignment and would not (contractually) be required to accept any work offered making them outside IR35.