As a small company, should you assess your contractors IR35 status?

Small companies are exempt from the April 2021 changes, however ambitious businesses anticipating growth often choose to assess their contractors early. This proactive approach helps them mitigate potential risks as they grow.

The other primary reason for a small company to consider the rules carefully is if the owners intend to sell the company eventually. If the seller has been hiring "deemed employees" the company valuation will be considerably decreased, or the sale may not occur. When small companies are sold to larger companies, due diligence will be conducted, including future IR35 risk.

The third reason for implementing an IR35 status assessment process is the strong likelihood that the small companies' exemption will disappear. The exemption was never intended to be included when the legislation was first proposed, and having the two sets of rules coexisting is overly complex. Companies are already required to consider status when hiring sole traders, so it should not be an additional burden if they need to do so when hiring workers operating via PSCs.

IR35 Shield works with many companies forecasting active growth who have decided to start assessing their contractors before they are obliged to. This is to make sure they can demonstrate a solid working model to their clients.
https://www.ir35shield.co.uk/articles/article/small-consultancies-and-ir35-off-payroll-what-you-need-to-know