This follows a High Court ruling earlier this year which found
that the IR35 law was not in breach of any European free trade laws
or the Human Rights Act as was argued by the PCG.
IR35 treats small businesses in the knowledge-based sector as
“disguised employees” for tax and National Insurance purposes,
thereby preventing them, argues the PCG, from operating on similar
terms to their larger competitors.
The PCG maintains its argument that IR35 should be held as
illegal under European Law, and hopes that a new hearing will find
in its favour, despite no new evidence or arguments being submitted
for the appeal.
A spokeswoman for the PCG told Silicon.com: “At the last review,
the findings of fact were in our favour, but the finding in law was
that IR35 should not be struck down…There are no precedents of tax
rules being challenged on a point of European Law, so our lawyers
thought it was worth another go”.
The spokeswoman added that the PCG would take the matter to the
European courts if the latest Appeals Court motion is
unsuccessful.
