This week's opinion

Employment status is one of those tough nuts in the tax system that never goes away. I remember early in my career in the Revenue talking to a senior inspector who had been asked by ministers to produce a one-page questionnaire that could be used to determine employment status definitively: not surprisingly he was finding it very difficult.

Fast forward 30 years and things are even more complex in part because of the emergence of the ‘worker’ status which falls somewhere between employment and self-employment. In its response to the Taylor review the government has launched a consultation on employment status. This is a positive move because for the first time that I can recall the employment law and tax issues are being looked at together. We know the problems that the current lack of alignment causes and to be frank the opportunities...