It is possible for mutuality of obligations to help conclude whether a contract is one of employment or not. The original summary from the FTT can be found here. Employment status defines the rights and responsibilities of a worker and is a key consideration for an organisation in its relationship with that worker. The CA (siding with the UT on this point but for different reasons) decided that the FTT had wrongly concluded that certain aspects of the relationship, including coaching and the assessment system, were not relevant to the question of control. The case is Revenue and Customs v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd [2021]. The case clearly shows that HMRCs definition and understanding of what mutuality of obligations means is too narrow. HMRC then appealed to the Court of Appeal (CA). The 3-day hearing began on 20 July 2021(Court 63) and wasstreamed on YouTube. HMRC appealed to the Upper Tier Tribunal tax chamber, which in May 2020 upheld the lower court judgment. FTT decision:Professional Game Match Officials Limited v HMRC [2018] TC06698, UT decision: HMRC v Professional Game Match Officials Limited[2020] UKUT 0147, HMRC v Professional Game Match Officials [2021] EWCA Civ1370. scvadar2022-06-27T08:21:21+00:0027 Giugno 2022|, Il decreto PNRR 2 pubblicato in Gazzetta Ufficiale, ha [], scvadar2021-05-04T06:44:46+00:008 Gennaio 2021|. Click here to login and access the full article. To contact the reporter on this story: Hamza Ali in London at hali@bloombergtax.com, To contact the editors responsible for this story: Meg Shreve at mshreve@bloombergindustry.com; Joe Stanley-Smith at jstanleysmith@bloombergindustry.com, Log in to access all of your BLAW products. The control that existed was more to ensure compliance with the rules of the game rather than being specific requests from PGMOL. The provisions about promoting products and services. The Upper Tribunal (UT) upheld the FTT's decision finding that there had been no error of law. The UT quote Langstaff who, in a previous EAT case (Cotswold Developments Construction Ltd v Williams), stated that: 47. The U.K. tax office has won an appeal linked to its long-running battle to reclassify Premier League and FA Cup referees as employees.
agreements for each match the referees were engaged for. Always seek our specific advice. PGMOL's disciplinary role in relation to referees, which sits alongside that of the FA. The Upper Tribunal concluded that that the FTT had correctly decided that there was insufficient evidence of Mutuality of Obligation and dismissed HMRCs appeal. %PDF-1.6 % The Upper Tribunal (UT) subsequently agreed with the FTT on the absence of mutuality of obligation but disagreed with its findings on control. Lower courts erred in law in their approaches to the question of mutuality of obligation in the individual contracts, and the First-Tier Tribunal erred in law in its approach to the question of control in the individual contracts, England and Wales Court of Appeal Justice Sir Nicholas Patten said in his judgment published Friday. % The part-time referees, who are the subject of the appeal, usually combine refereeing with full-time jobs in other fields. These matters are determined by the nature of the mutual obligations by reference to which it is to be accepted that there is a contract of some type. stream Copyright 2021 STUDIO CLARUS sas | P.I. HMRC declined to comment. The tests for determining who is an employee are nonetheless essentially the same in both the tax and employment context. The Chase Law Group, LLC | 1447 York Road, Suite 505 | Lutherville, MD 21093 | (410) 928-7991, Easements and Related Real Property Agreements. A round up of recent developments from our Employment Solutions team on employment status, including two new tribunal decisions affecting workers.
In HMRC v Professional Game Match Officials [2021] EWCA Civ1370,the Court of Appeal concluded that the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) and Upper Tribunal (UT) had both erred in law when considering the control and mutuality tests in deciding whether football referees were employees. In HMRCv- PGMOLtheissue is whether certain referees engaged to officiate at 5 football matches by PGMOLwere at the relevant time employees of PGMOL (being engaged under contracts of service) or were self-employed (being engaged under contracts for services) for the purposes of income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs).
For more information and guidance about employment status, check out our Employer Solutions Knowledge Hub. These are important factors in determiningemployment status. <>/ExtGState<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 595.32 841.92] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Those who believe themselves to be self-employed, and those contracting with them, should review their arrangements and take advice, as it is evident from this long-running case that deciding on any given situation will be highly fact-dependant and every bit as complicated as the offside rule.. They did also consider the length of the contract as opposed to single engagements. #$TRD0l1y7v?y3.jwog2B1*oMo ^k.|:2]tTN\Xa^g/ zw:!`iQ*R`p/;!LhJ'4_Y5Fi*!p$exUqiG"MEE The case related to determinations issued by HMRC relating for 2014/15 and 2015/16 on the basis that the PGMOL was the employer of certain football referees during three football seasons. That the individual contracts could not be contracts of employment if they merely provided for a worker to be paid for the work he did. Esperti OCF nella Protezione Patrimoniale. Turning to the individual contracts, the UT again stated that the FTT were entitled to find that the right of the referee, who accepted an engagement to officiate at a single match, to withdraw from that single engagement, was inconsistent with the obligations of an employee. Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd -judgment available here. Attorney Advertising. 07869806 VAT No. If there is a contract, it is necessary then to determine what type of contract it is. The UT decided that it was necessary to read wider than the passage in which HMRC had relied. It did not matter that a referee could pull out before an accepted game. Taxpayer's barrister is Jonathan Peacock QC. There must be mutuality of obligations (so the referee agrees to provide his own personal service in return for a wage or other remuneration). HMRC appealed against the FTT decision that there was insufficiency of mutuality of obligation in the overarching framework and that there was insufficiency of mutuality of obligation and of control in the individual agreements. There were 60 such referees in 2014-15. Employment status lawyer and former member of the Office for Tax Simplification, Rebecca Seeley Harris, has written a legal perspective on the case for AccountingWEB: Further legal explanation of what is mutuality of obligations can be found in her earlier article on the subject. Register with us nowto receive our unique FREE Tax Planning Tips and Advice Guide & our FREE OMB Newsletter. The situation is made more complicated by the fact that the rules may apply differently to different contracts for the same contractor, so some may fall within the off-payroll working rules and some may not. Outside of the matches that were officiated, there were various levels of control in place. %%EOF As such, the referees were akin to surgeons, chefs, footballers and live broadcasters. hbbd```b``.@$5dj7X; `,L. Un bando rivolto alle imprese per sostenere il mercato del lavoro: partecipa entro il 18 gennaio. The challenge surrounds the IR35 tax rules and the employment status of elite referees, which has seen a long-running dispute between HMRC and the body responsible for their contracts, the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL). Sign up now to receive a unique FREE Tax Planning Tips and Advice Guide & our FREE Newsletter. Other referees, however, provide their service in their spare time (frequently around full time employment) and these are the ones who the case centered around. The approach taken by the CA creates potential difficulties for anyone engaging individuals on a casual or ad hoc basis, who might previously have taken the view that they could legitimately be classified as self-employed on account of the overall nature of the engagement. That being the case, we could be a long time away from clarity, leaving other status cases in limbo and the viability of HMRC's CEST tool in doubt until afinal decision. <> During the years 2014-15 and 2015-16, on which the case focuses, on they would owe 583,874 pounds ($805,000) excluding interest. However, as this would make no difference in this case, no further analysis was undertaken in this case. The referee has total control of the pitch subject to FA regulations. Call +44 (0)20 7353 7534 This low bar may mean that casual arrangements are more easily fitted into the employment box in the future, making questions of control and personal service all the more important. This will mean greater scrutiny and reliance on other factors such as the level of integration and how much control the engager otherwise has over the individual. HMRC v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) [2021] EWCA Civ 1370, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) v HMRC, Day 1 - afternoon - HMRC's arguments continue, Day 2 - afternoon - HMRC's case ends and start of taxpayer's case, Day 3 - morning - Taxpayer's case continues, Day 3 - afternoon - Taxpayer's and HMRC's final remarks, There was no mutuality of obligation outside individual engagements and on that basis the Overarching Contract was not a contract of employment; and. The listing of verdicts, settlements, and other case results is not a guarantee or prediction of the outcome of any other claims. The case centered around the three qualities that must be present in a contractual relationship for it to be one of employment: The Tribunal concluded that there was a contractual relationship between PGMOL and, in reaching this decision, found that there were two levels to this: The Tribunal agreed that there was no guarantee or promise of work in the overarching framework and therefore this did not constitute an employment relationship. 4 0 obj Are you fully aware of the benefits of Legal-Island's Employment Law Update Service? The CA accepted that persons engaged to do work personally on an ad hoc, casual basis could have an overarching contract and/or a contract that exists for each individual assignment (in this case, a match). Employment status is a hot issue, since the government wantedto impose a responsibility on private organisations from April 2021 to determine the status of any contractors they engage (off-payroll working). , In considering HMRCs argument, as opposed to numerous decisions previously made, the UT stated that they reject HMRCs contention that the requirement that there be mutuality of obligation is irrelevant to the categorisation of the contract as one of employment or one for services, beyond merely requiring that the services be performed personally It is an essential requirement in categorising a contract as one of employment.. Studio Clarus usa i dati che fornisci al solo scopo di rispondere alle vostre richieste nel rispetto del Regolamento UE 2016/679 GDPR. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. 1 0 obj So on 17 September 2021 the case wassent back to the FTT to reconsiderwhether there were sufficient mutuality of obligation and control in the individual contracts for them to be contracts of employment. The obligation must subsist throughout the whole period of the contract. endstream endobj startxref The Appeal was heard at the end of January 2020. Now, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal both erred in law in their approach, when they decided that the referees and other match day officials were not employees of PGMOL and were performing under contracts for services. %PDF-1.7 (emphasis added). It seems you have Javascript turned off in your browser. It classifies 30,000 referees in 10 categories, from trainees to international standard. Chris added: The Court of Appeal ruling is likely to have implications far beyond the football pitch. The FTT said that the referees had both an overarching contract with PGMOL, which existed between matches, and individual, specific contracts which existed when the referees accepted a match. Copyright 2022 Bishop Fleming LLP. This is the case irrespective of the fact that the individual (or putative employer) can cancel the assignment or decide not to go ahead with it at any time up to performance. As mutuality of obligations is not even considered in the CEST tool, this places further doubt as to the relevance of this generic tool for businesses in deciding on employment status issues.
agreements for each match the referees were engaged for. Always seek our specific advice. PGMOL's disciplinary role in relation to referees, which sits alongside that of the FA. The Upper Tribunal concluded that that the FTT had correctly decided that there was insufficient evidence of Mutuality of Obligation and dismissed HMRCs appeal. %PDF-1.6 % The Upper Tribunal (UT) subsequently agreed with the FTT on the absence of mutuality of obligation but disagreed with its findings on control. Lower courts erred in law in their approaches to the question of mutuality of obligation in the individual contracts, and the First-Tier Tribunal erred in law in its approach to the question of control in the individual contracts, England and Wales Court of Appeal Justice Sir Nicholas Patten said in his judgment published Friday. % The part-time referees, who are the subject of the appeal, usually combine refereeing with full-time jobs in other fields. These matters are determined by the nature of the mutual obligations by reference to which it is to be accepted that there is a contract of some type. stream Copyright 2021 STUDIO CLARUS sas | P.I. HMRC declined to comment. The tests for determining who is an employee are nonetheless essentially the same in both the tax and employment context. The Chase Law Group, LLC | 1447 York Road, Suite 505 | Lutherville, MD 21093 | (410) 928-7991, Easements and Related Real Property Agreements. A round up of recent developments from our Employment Solutions team on employment status, including two new tribunal decisions affecting workers.
In HMRC v Professional Game Match Officials [2021] EWCA Civ1370,the Court of Appeal concluded that the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) and Upper Tribunal (UT) had both erred in law when considering the control and mutuality tests in deciding whether football referees were employees. In HMRCv- PGMOLtheissue is whether certain referees engaged to officiate at 5 football matches by PGMOLwere at the relevant time employees of PGMOL (being engaged under contracts of service) or were self-employed (being engaged under contracts for services) for the purposes of income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs).
For more information and guidance about employment status, check out our Employer Solutions Knowledge Hub. These are important factors in determiningemployment status. <>/ExtGState<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 595.32 841.92] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Those who believe themselves to be self-employed, and those contracting with them, should review their arrangements and take advice, as it is evident from this long-running case that deciding on any given situation will be highly fact-dependant and every bit as complicated as the offside rule.. They did also consider the length of the contract as opposed to single engagements. #$TRD0l1y7v?y3.jwog2B1*oMo ^k.|:2]tTN\Xa^g/ zw:!`iQ*R`p/;!LhJ'4_Y5Fi*!p$exUqiG"MEE The case related to determinations issued by HMRC relating for 2014/15 and 2015/16 on the basis that the PGMOL was the employer of certain football referees during three football seasons. That the individual contracts could not be contracts of employment if they merely provided for a worker to be paid for the work he did. Esperti OCF nella Protezione Patrimoniale. Turning to the individual contracts, the UT again stated that the FTT were entitled to find that the right of the referee, who accepted an engagement to officiate at a single match, to withdraw from that single engagement, was inconsistent with the obligations of an employee. Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd -judgment available here. Attorney Advertising. 07869806 VAT No. If there is a contract, it is necessary then to determine what type of contract it is. The UT decided that it was necessary to read wider than the passage in which HMRC had relied. It did not matter that a referee could pull out before an accepted game. Taxpayer's barrister is Jonathan Peacock QC. There must be mutuality of obligations (so the referee agrees to provide his own personal service in return for a wage or other remuneration). HMRC appealed against the FTT decision that there was insufficiency of mutuality of obligation in the overarching framework and that there was insufficiency of mutuality of obligation and of control in the individual agreements. There were 60 such referees in 2014-15. Employment status lawyer and former member of the Office for Tax Simplification, Rebecca Seeley Harris, has written a legal perspective on the case for AccountingWEB: Further legal explanation of what is mutuality of obligations can be found in her earlier article on the subject. Register with us nowto receive our unique FREE Tax Planning Tips and Advice Guide & our FREE OMB Newsletter. The situation is made more complicated by the fact that the rules may apply differently to different contracts for the same contractor, so some may fall within the off-payroll working rules and some may not. Outside of the matches that were officiated, there were various levels of control in place. %%EOF As such, the referees were akin to surgeons, chefs, footballers and live broadcasters. hbbd```b``.@$5dj7X; `,L. Un bando rivolto alle imprese per sostenere il mercato del lavoro: partecipa entro il 18 gennaio. The challenge surrounds the IR35 tax rules and the employment status of elite referees, which has seen a long-running dispute between HMRC and the body responsible for their contracts, the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL). Sign up now to receive a unique FREE Tax Planning Tips and Advice Guide & our FREE Newsletter. Other referees, however, provide their service in their spare time (frequently around full time employment) and these are the ones who the case centered around. The approach taken by the CA creates potential difficulties for anyone engaging individuals on a casual or ad hoc basis, who might previously have taken the view that they could legitimately be classified as self-employed on account of the overall nature of the engagement. That being the case, we could be a long time away from clarity, leaving other status cases in limbo and the viability of HMRC's CEST tool in doubt until afinal decision. <> During the years 2014-15 and 2015-16, on which the case focuses, on they would owe 583,874 pounds ($805,000) excluding interest. However, as this would make no difference in this case, no further analysis was undertaken in this case. The referee has total control of the pitch subject to FA regulations. Call +44 (0)20 7353 7534 This low bar may mean that casual arrangements are more easily fitted into the employment box in the future, making questions of control and personal service all the more important. This will mean greater scrutiny and reliance on other factors such as the level of integration and how much control the engager otherwise has over the individual. HMRC v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) [2021] EWCA Civ 1370, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) v HMRC, Day 1 - afternoon - HMRC's arguments continue, Day 2 - afternoon - HMRC's case ends and start of taxpayer's case, Day 3 - morning - Taxpayer's case continues, Day 3 - afternoon - Taxpayer's and HMRC's final remarks, There was no mutuality of obligation outside individual engagements and on that basis the Overarching Contract was not a contract of employment; and. The listing of verdicts, settlements, and other case results is not a guarantee or prediction of the outcome of any other claims. The case centered around the three qualities that must be present in a contractual relationship for it to be one of employment: The Tribunal concluded that there was a contractual relationship between PGMOL and, in reaching this decision, found that there were two levels to this: The Tribunal agreed that there was no guarantee or promise of work in the overarching framework and therefore this did not constitute an employment relationship. 4 0 obj Are you fully aware of the benefits of Legal-Island's Employment Law Update Service? The CA accepted that persons engaged to do work personally on an ad hoc, casual basis could have an overarching contract and/or a contract that exists for each individual assignment (in this case, a match). Employment status is a hot issue, since the government wantedto impose a responsibility on private organisations from April 2021 to determine the status of any contractors they engage (off-payroll working). , In considering HMRCs argument, as opposed to numerous decisions previously made, the UT stated that they reject HMRCs contention that the requirement that there be mutuality of obligation is irrelevant to the categorisation of the contract as one of employment or one for services, beyond merely requiring that the services be performed personally It is an essential requirement in categorising a contract as one of employment.. Studio Clarus usa i dati che fornisci al solo scopo di rispondere alle vostre richieste nel rispetto del Regolamento UE 2016/679 GDPR. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. 1 0 obj So on 17 September 2021 the case wassent back to the FTT to reconsiderwhether there were sufficient mutuality of obligation and control in the individual contracts for them to be contracts of employment. The obligation must subsist throughout the whole period of the contract. endstream endobj startxref The Appeal was heard at the end of January 2020. Now, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal both erred in law in their approach, when they decided that the referees and other match day officials were not employees of PGMOL and were performing under contracts for services. %PDF-1.7 (emphasis added). It seems you have Javascript turned off in your browser. It classifies 30,000 referees in 10 categories, from trainees to international standard. Chris added: The Court of Appeal ruling is likely to have implications far beyond the football pitch. The FTT said that the referees had both an overarching contract with PGMOL, which existed between matches, and individual, specific contracts which existed when the referees accepted a match. Copyright 2022 Bishop Fleming LLP. This is the case irrespective of the fact that the individual (or putative employer) can cancel the assignment or decide not to go ahead with it at any time up to performance. As mutuality of obligations is not even considered in the CEST tool, this places further doubt as to the relevance of this generic tool for businesses in deciding on employment status issues.