Any mention of IR35 and you will get a justifiable tsunami of complaints from the freelance and contractor community; nobody likes enforced changes in taxation that affect take-home pay and working practices. And for the client businesses – an external shift that affects ongoing projects and long-term contractor relationships. It would be beneficial to consult with a tax attorney if you have any concerns about your taxes. A professional tax lawyer can offer expert legal assistance for a wide variety of areas in the realm of tax law.

We’ll leave it for others to argue the whys and wherefores for this change, but can we find positives in the situation for the clients and the contractors, however well hidden. 

Large IT projects undertaken by teams of contractors can have a project momentum that is difficult to interrupt. Development agility can be lost as it is not always in the team’s interest to question the direction and purpose of the project. Working with a progressive software development house, like Automation Squared, can introduce a different dynamic to projects. There is an opportunity to reevaluate the objectives and the design, to bring in external influences and sector experience that can introduce innovations in the technical approach and business model for the application.

When Automation Squared approaches a new project, we encourage a step-back from a detailed specification. We want the opportunity to fully understand the motivations behind the project and the critical business outcomes. Our teams include commercialisation specialists as well as software experts, and our experience embraces every tech sector. Such an approach to Design and Discovery creates a dynamic that can draw the best ideas from both the developers and the client’s project leaders. ‘Mutual Challenge’ is a positive way to view the client-developer relationship in creating a truly agile environment and developing truly great software.

For the contractor, we offer a team working environment that encourages innovative and entrepreneurial thinking, as well as technical excellence. Rewards are based on achieving real results that deliver commercial gains for our clients — customer and developer satisfaction.