According to Dave Chaplin, Founder and CEO, ContractorCalculator, the current impact of off-payroll rule changes to contractors and freelancers is not unlike the twists and turns one might expect in a very British soap or drama.
The tax-specialist honcho believes HMRC’s “unfair” legislation is pitting contractors, clients and agencies against each other as they battle to understand and apply the rules.He explains that the tensions between these three groups is playing out in ways that aren’t too dissimilar from storylines in Shakespearean plays, Eastenders episodes, and Oscar-nominated movies. In fact, Chaplin believes that these three groups now fit into the roles of victim, persecutor and rescuer. Something which psychologist Stephen Karpman defined as being particularly unhealthy.
Karpman defined such unhealthy roles as the Karpman drama triangle, comprising three key positions: victim, persecutor and rescuer. Chaplin says: “The triangle is toxic but helps us to understand the off-payroll IR35 reforms and how they are damaging previously amicable relationships between businesses, agencies and the self-employed.”