Contractor or employee? Decide it before the tax authority does.
In the UK the off-payroll rules put the liability on the engaging business. In the US the IRS and state agencies reclassify contractors and assess back taxes. Both start with a status decision that most businesses never actually make.
The whole job, not the visible half.
Everything below is in scope on the plan that includes ir35 & contractor compliance. Nothing on this list is an add-on.
- Status determination statements for every UK contractor engagement
- Contract review and working-practice review, because the contract alone does not decide it
- US worker classification under the IRS common-law and state ABC tests
- Contractor onboarding: W-9 or W-8BEN, IR35 status, insurance and right-to-work checks
- 1099-NEC preparation and filing by 31 January
- Remediation where past engagements were classified wrong
Three situations we see every week.
Medium and large UK businesses using contractors
Since 2021 the end client determines status and carries the liability. Small companies are exempt, but the thresholds changed in April 2025.
US businesses with a contractor-heavy workforce
California's ABC test and similar state rules presume employment. Misclassification brings back payroll taxes, penalties and benefit claims.
Agencies and consultancies
A bench of contractors is a liability if their status was never assessed. We assess the whole bench.
Four steps, then a rhythm.
Map the engagements
Every contractor, the contract, the actual working practices and the engaging entity.
Determine
A written status decision per engagement, with the reasoning, and the disagreement process the UK rules require.
Onboard properly
Documents, tax forms and insurance collected before the first invoice is paid.
Report
1099s in the US, deemed-employment payroll where UK status is inside IR35, and an annual review of the whole population.
The rules differ. So does the work.
The same service, applied to each jurisdiction's law. Figures checked September 2026.
The off-payroll rules apply to medium and large clients. A small company is one meeting two of: turnover £15 million or less, balance sheet £7.5 million or less, 50 employees or fewer, thresholds revised in April 2025. Where a contractor is inside IR35, the fee payer operates PAYE on the deemed payment. Checked September 2026.
Everything about the UK ↗1099-NEC is required for payments of $600 or more to non-employee individuals and partnerships, due 31 January. Worker classification follows the IRS common-law control test federally and stricter ABC tests in states including California, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Everything about the USA ↗One senior accountant. One flat fee. Three countries.
Group figures are Shaazford Global LLC's published numbers across all its service lines.
Can I just use HMRC's CEST tool?
You can, and HMRC says it will stand by the result if the inputs are accurate. The inputs are where it goes wrong. We complete it with evidence and keep the record.
What if a contractor is inside IR35?
Either the fee payer runs the payment through payroll as deemed employment, or the engagement is restructured, or the contractor becomes an employee. Each has a cost; we set them out.
Do I issue a 1099 to a foreign contractor?
Generally not, if the work is performed outside the US and you hold a W-8BEN. We collect the form at onboarding so the decision is documented.
Are these rules going to change?
The UK is consulting on umbrella company regulation and the US Department of Labor's classification rule has changed with each administration. We review the population annually against current law.
Talk to us about ir35 & contractor compliance.
Thirty minutes, no pitch deck. Tell us the entities and the countries, and we will tell you honestly what applies and what it costs.