StepOne wrote:I thought that the number of contracts was completely irrelevant. HMRC will assess each contract individually, and you could in theory be caught by IR 35 in some but not others. The key decision is about whether the hiring company will accept someone else in your place.
StepOne
I haven't contracted since 2009 so it could be there has been new case law or similar since, but back then the right of substitution was a strong indicator of not being caught but as I understood it would NOT on its own mean the contract was not caught. Ditto lack of mutual obligation. Again, as I understood it having several clients in a short period of time eg a year, would not in itself mean all contacts were not IR35 caught... but the overall pattern may be an indicator. Best scenario - back then etc - AIUI was if you could several clients running concurrently that was a very very strong indicator. Though again, would not necessarily mean HMRC would not have deemed any one of those not caught.
I appreciate as said above possibly more recent case law or findings etc have altered this understanding.
didds