Bryan Robson has secured a partial victory in the IR35 dispute with HMRC
Former England football captain Bryan Robson has been successful in his multiple appeal against HMRC over alleged breaches of IR35 in relation to his work as Manchester United’s Global Ambassador between 2015/16 and 2020/21.
The First-Tier Tax Tribunal upheld Robson’s challenge to four of the six disputed tax years, although it found that part of his income from December 2019 to April 2021 should have been considered employment income.
The court ordered HMRC and Robson to determine what proportion of that income comes from image rights, and the rest is subject to additional tax under the IR35 rules. Robson’s case, which dates back almost a decade, highlights the complexities of IR35 legislation, which is designed to determine whether people are self-employed or should be treated as employees for tax purposes.
Dave Chaplin, CEO of IR35 Shield, an IR35 compliance company, attended the hearing and said: “Robson is a member of another unfortunate group, the ‘IR35 Decade Club’, of people who, due to the ineffectiveness of the IR35 legislation, have been left out. tax uncertainty about 10 years after he rendered his services.”
Chaplin noted the extensive legal and administrative costs of the four-day court, suggesting that the final tax bill may not exceed HMRC’s costs in prosecuting the case.
Chaplin also criticized the off-payroll legislation that replaced the first draft of IR35, saying it was burdening UK businesses and stifling growth.
“Government and tax authorities should celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of independent people who want to be their own bosses, not insult them … with harmful ideology-led legislation that restricts their freedom,” he said.
