BBC presenter Christa Ackroyd defeated at Upper Tribunal appeal
29 October 2019
The decision which found BBC presenter Christa Ackroyd to be within the scope of IR35 has been upheld on appeal. As such, her £400,000 liability for tax and national insurance contributions for tax years 2006-07 through to 2012-13 will stand.
- Ackroyd was a presenter for the BBC for more than a decade and supplied her services through her personal service company Christa Ackroyd Media Ltd under two successive fixed-term contracts.
- The Upper Tribunal (UT) judges ruled that the First Tier Tribunal was correct in its determination that there was an ultimate right of control over Ackroyd, and as such she should be deemed to have “employee” status.
- The UT declared that the First Tier Tribunal had not erred in law as the BBC had a sufficient degree of control over the provision of services by Ms Ackroyd to satisfy the control requirement necessary for an employment relationship.
Aspire Comment
This is another example of the difficulty in interpreting employment status for the correct application of the off-payroll working rules. Although new HMRC IR35 briefing notes suggest the introduction of an enhanced CEST tool, it is still doubtful that an online system will be able to accurately interpret something as complex as employment status for the purpose of tax and NIC. It is imperative that contractors seek advice to ensure that contracts are reviewed and compliant with the IR35 legislation ahead of the extension to the off-payroll working rules in April 2020.
Get in touch with one of our advisors today on 0121 445 6178 for more guidance on IR35.
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