The bookmakers' favourite to become the next Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has confirmed that she will order a review of the off-payroll working rules if she wins the Conservative party's members' vote and enters number 10. 

Landmark changes were made to the "IR35" regime in April 2021, when the off-payroll working rules were introduced in the private sector (having already been in force in the public sector) to prevent the avoidance of tax and national insurance contributions by the interposition of an intermediary between a client and a worker.  The new regime is reported to have led to an increased burden on an already difficult recruitment marker in many sectors, such as IT, healthcare, road haulage to name but a few.  In recent weeks it has transpired that HMRC has imposed tax demands on many of its fellow government departments for IR35 breaches - including, with some degree of irony, the Ministry of Justice. 

However, as her campaigning to become the next Prime Minister draws to an end, Ms Truss this week heavily criticised the new rules for wrongly taxing the genuinely self-employed in the same way as employees, despite the lack of entitlement to the same benefits, such as paid holidays.   She has also suggested the rules are hampering the so-called 'gig economy'. 

Though most critics of the current system have welcomed Ms Truss' proposal for review (particularly given her background as a chartered management accountant), others question whether it will lead to any meaningful changes.  The IR35 regime was already in place in 2021 when it was extended to the private sector and was proving to be hugely problematic in the public sector - as the many government departments who have been successfully challenged by HMRC has proven - yet both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak held ministerial positions when the extension was introduced.