I have heard of IR35, what is it?
The term 'IR35' is used to describe a piece of tax legislation which came into force in 2000. The intention was to prevent the practice of 'disguised employment'; prior to IR35, some professionals had established themselves as 'contractors', when in fact they were employees in all but name. IR35 sought to prevent this by creating a notional contract of employment between the contractor and the end user client and assessing whether it was in fact a 'disguised employment" relationship.
The IR35 legislation has proved very difficult to enforce, and there is a growing industry of "specialists" who claim to be experts in writing IR35 friendly contracts. However, as employees of Springboard the IR 35 legislation does not apply or put it another way all your earnings through Springboard are treated as employment income and taxed accordingly and so there is no need to worry about IR35.
IR35 and my own Limited Company
For those working through their own limited company the rules surrounding IR35 are very relevant and you should seek professional advice on whether your contractual and service arrangements are likely to be caught by IR35. It is worth making it clear that it is not Contractors who are inside or outside IR35. It is the arrangements under which the services are supplied that are in or out. It could be that a contractor has three contracts in a row, where the first is outside, the second is inside, and the third is outside again. It is therefore important that those working through their own limited company have clear advice and guidance on this important topic.