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CEST IR35 result checker

Is HMRC's CEST tool putting you at risk?

HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool could be putting businesses at risk, by producing Outside IR35 determinations that may not adhere to reasonable care. Use our simple checker tool to find out if you're affected.

Download our full CEST investigation report

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Your "Outside IR35" determination is at risk

(All the relevant factors have not been considered)

Why are you getting this result?

Your "Outside IR35" determination has been reached without conducting a full multi-factorial determination.

  • Your answers regarding have solely been used to reach the conclusion.
  • All your other answers have been ignored by CEST.
  • A "single-factor" approach is high risk and could leave you exposed.

By not considering all factors, this could be a failure to take reasonable care.

Your "Outside IR35" determination may be at risk

(All the relevant factors have not been considered)

Why are you getting this result?

Your "Outside IR35" determination has been reached without conducting a full multi-factorial determination.

  • Your SDS indicates you are Outside IR35 based on .
  • However, only the answers in were considered when reaching the conclusion.
  • All your other answers have been ignored by CEST.
  • A "single-factor" approach is high risk and could leave you exposed.

By not considering all factors, this could be a failure to take reasonable care.

Your "Outside IR35" determination may be unsafe

Why are you getting this result?

Your "Outside IR35" determination has been reached using unsafe arguments.

  • Your answers regarding "being in business" have been central to the conclusion
  • CEST is relying on a limited set of business factors, and not your full situation
  • Your status may be unsupportable by case law

If HMRC investigate, there could be protracted and expensive litigation.

What you should do next

Download our full CEST investigation report

Your "Inside IR35" determination may be unreliable

Why are you getting this result?

CEST sets the "Outside IR35" bar too high, contrary to binding case law.

  • CEST usually only gives "Outside IR35" based on Substitution, Control or Financial Risk
  • In most other cases, CEST will return "Indeterminate" or "Inside IR35"
  • Providing personal service alone does not necessarily mean the status is "Inside IR35"
  • Your CEST output does not fully explain the reasons for the conclusion

Because full reasons are not included, this is unlikely to be a valid Status Determination Statement (SDS), as per section 61NA(3) of Chapter 10 ITEPA 2003.

Your "Inside IR35" determination is due to being an Office Holder

Why are you getting this result?

Office holders are always "Inside IR35".

What you should do next

Download our full CEST investigation report

CEST could not determine your status

Why are you getting this result?

CEST is a basic tool and fails to provide a result in 22% of cases.

  • CEST usually only gives "Outside IR35" based on Substitution, Control or Financial Risk
  • CEST sets the "Outside IR35" bar too high, contrary to binding case law
  • In most cases, a CEST multi-factorial determination returns "Indeterminate" or "Inside IR35"

Note: IR35 Shield does not deliver indeterminate results

Despite what CEST says, the actual status could be "Outside IR35".

What you should do next

Download our full CEST investigation report

We couldn't check your CEST determination

Our CEST checker was unable to recognise your document. This could be because:

  • you used an older version of CEST (we support "decision service 2.4" onwards)
  • you were checking for self-employment for tax purposes, not IR35 status
  • the PDF you uploaded is not a CEST determination

What you should do next

Download our full CEST investigation report

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Multi-factorial determination

A multi-factorial determination is one which identifies and takes into account all the relevant factors, including substitution, mutuality, control and all other relevant factors.

Why clients prefer IR35 Shield

The old IR35 methods no longer apply in the new world of off-payroll. It’s critical to:

  • Adopt a pre-emptive tax defence strategy
  • Have regular checks and gathering of evidence
  • Rely on the current and emerging case law
  • Have robust contracts & processes in place

IR35 Shield can provide everything you need using a mixture of technology and expertise garnered from the frontline of their tax tribunal work.

Features & Benefits IR35 Shield CEST
Automated assessments
Always available online tool
Scaled for business use (multiple users)
Encompasses current case law
Returns no indeterminate results
Automatically rechecks status
Collects evidence during the engagement
Customer support
Dedicated account manager
Access to legal expertise
Tribunal experience-led consultancy
SDS repository included
Flexible to suit your business
Allows Collaboration through the chain
Provides a detailed 25 page SDS
Gives independent, accurate results

How does IR35 Shield calculate employment status?

IR35 Shield has been automated to follow “Nolan’s framework” in Hall v Lorimer, one of the seminal employment status cases. We gather all of the detailed evidence, and base our decision on every piece.

Only we can do it faster, whilst applying exactly the same unbiased logic every time.

In order to decide whether a person carries on business on his own account it is necessary to consider many different aspects of that person's work activity. This is not a mechanical exercise of running through items on a check list to see whether they are present in, or absent from, a given situation. The object of the exercise is to paint a picture from the accumulation of detail. The overall effect can only be appreciated by standing back from the detailed picture, viewing it from a distance and only then making an informed, considered, qualitative appreciation of the whole.

It is a matter of evaluation of the overall effect of the detail, which is not necessarily the same as the sum total of the individual details. Not all details are of equal weight or importance in any given situation. The details may also vary in importance from one situation to another.

Hall v Lorimer ‎EWCA Civ 25,, IRLR 171

At the cutting-edge of employment status case law

IR35 case law has moved on considerably in the last decade. Barristers and armies of lawyers are now involved.

Co-defending IR35 investigations and assisting in IR35 tax tribunals means IR35 Shield is at the cutting-edge of employment status case law. This, combined with our extensive experience, means IR35 Shield is always up-to-date, informing our inbuilt compliance tools to help ensure our clients don’t get caught up in any unnecessary litigation by HMRC.

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HMRC investigations request proof that you've trained your staff on IR35 and off-payroll. Our online training makes IR35 simple, educates your team and demonstrates your compliance to HMRC.

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over 200,000 assessments

Using our assessment technology

over 20 years

Over 20 years’ experience at the cutting-edge of IR35

since 2009

Built in 2009 and expertly refined to align with current IR35 case law