This guidance note considers some of those risks to the intermediary of the off-payroll working for small clients rules (also known as the intermediary rules or IR35) see the Off-payroll working (IR35) for small clients - overview for an introduction to this topic.

For those contracts which are within the off-payroll working for small clients rules, the intermediary is required to assess whether the contract would be one of employment or self-employment when looking at the relationship between the individual carrying out services and the client if that relationship was notionally direct, ie without the intermediary in place. Whether a person is an employee or self-employed is known as employment status.

This guidance note addresses the practical approaches an intermediary may take to manage the risk of the off-payroll working for small clients rules.