The Office of Tax Simplification are set to report on their review of IR35 today 10th March 2010. The aim is to give the Chancellor 2 weeks to absorbe the recommendations prior to his budget.

In HM Treasury's own word the prupose of the Small Business Tax Review was (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ots_smallbusinessreview.htm:

"The Office will provide an initial report to the Chancellor by Budget 2011 that identifies areas of the tax system that cause the most day-to-day complexity and uncertainty for small businesses and recommends priority areas for simplification.)

Once the Government has considered the initial report the Office will be asked to produce specific recommendations on tax simplification for small businesses.

As part of the initial report, the Office will also explore alternative legislative approaches to IR35. IR35 (the intermediaries legislation) is legislation introduced in 2000 to counter avoidance of tax on employment income where workers receive payments from a client via an intermediary (usually a personal service company) and the relationship between the worker and the client would otherwise be one of employment".

We will update our news section as soon as the report is issued.