IR35: Inland Revenue forced into redraft

In what amounts to a partial victory for the Professional Contractors Group (PCG), a High Court judge ruled this morning that the employment tests to assess whether a small business fell inside or outside of IR35 were unfair.

But he stopped short of declaring the law illegal - something which the PCG had been pushing for.

Gareth Williams, chairman of the PCG, said: "IR35 has been a catalogue of disasters from the very beginning. The High Court has been the first authoritative body to listen to our concerns and has confirmed that we were right.

"It's unfair, unworkable, and creates an uncertain climate."

Contractors now face chaos as they have to reassess their tax status, just days before the end of the financial year.

We'll have more on this story later...