The Check Employment Status for Tax tool gives you HMRC’s view of a worker’s employment status, based on the information you provide. It can also be used to check if changes to contractual terms or working arrangements may alter a worker’s employment status.
You do not have to use the tool to make employment status decisions, but it can help you decide:
- the employment status of a worker or an individual you engage or represent
- if the off-payroll working (IR35) rules apply to a contract
- if HMRC will consider you as employed or self-employed for tax and National Insurance contributions purposes, if you have (or expect to have) a work contract
There must be a contract in place to see whether the engagement is classed as employment or self-employment. The tool assumes there is, or will be, a contract in place.
HMRC will stand by all determinations given by the tool, as long as the information you give remains accurate. You can use the tool again if:
- there has been a change to an existing contract or service agreement
- the information you originally provided is no longer accurate
You do not need to know who the worker is to use the tool – you’ll still get a result. You can use the tool again when a worker’s identity is known. This may enable the tool to provide a determination where the result was ‘unable to determine’.
Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) Tool: This webinar is designed to help you understand how HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax tool, or CEST for short, can help you make robust and accurate status determinations.