Why use us? - IR35 Shield

Comprehensive protection with IR35 Shield

IR35 compliance needn’t be a burden. With IR35 Shield you can have an accurate assessment of your contractor’s IR35 status that’s underpinned by employment case law in just fifteen minutes.

Our comprehensive IR35 assessment delivers an instant IR35 Status Determination Statement. Each contractor’s answers are carefully analysed by our automated algorithm, whose approach to determining IR35 status is modelled on that of a tribunal judge.

This enables IR35 Shield to deliver accurate and consistent IR35 evaluations without bias or human error. A human expert would typically take 2-3 hours to deliver an assessment. IR35 Shield can do so in under a second, and is available 24/7, meaning you can assess thousands of contractors in a single day.

Our solution can also be used effectively in conjunction with legal expertise, which we actively promote by providing access to additional service providers. All these features make IR35 Shield the most comprehensive, accessible and effective IR35 compliance solution on the market.

Keeping you compliant

Agencies and hirers in both the public and private sector must now ensure they accurately assess their contractors IR35 status. Otherwise they could face significant fines, penalties and interest for each contractor caught by the legislation, posing considerable risk. Private sector-based contractors also need to take measures to ensure they are compliant or they face the same financial penalties.

Our assessment solution was developed by industry experts with extensive knowledge of employment case law and software development expertise. Our Status Determination Statements offer comprehensive details proving due diligence has been conducted, and we even enable firms to mass assess their contractors with our specialist bulk invitations system, helping to assess and ensure compliance across entire workforces.

With IR35 Shield, you can rest assured that your risk of non-compliance is kept to an absolute minimum.

Keeping you competitive

Agencies and accountants both stand to benefit from IR35 Shield. In a buoyant market, agencies that can supply contractors compliantly will maintain a competitive edge.

With many contractors facing the distinct possibility of being forced onto a company’s payroll, accountants can now provide added value compliance services to agencies and contractors that need help with IR35 compliance.

Using our solution means you can gain this boost to your business whilst keeping admin to an absolute minimum.

Demonstrate your due diligence

HMRC are unlikely to pursue cases unless there has been inadequate compliance. In addition to the IR35 Review service, IR35 Shield provides access to legal help. Demonstrating due diligence should be enough to provide HMRC with the information required.

Business benefits:

Greater compliance and reduced liability risk
Significantly reduced workload for your back office
A competitive edge in the market

Contractor benefits:

An assessment of IR35 status
Greater certainty and peace of mind

How we compare with other services

A human expert would typically take 2-3 hours to deliver an assessment, charge hundreds of pounds, and may take up to 5 days turn around time. Our IR35 assessment takes just 15 minutes and we are available 24/7.

IR35 Shield uses the same approach to determining IR35 status as a tribunal judge, delivering accurate and consistent IR35 evaluations without bias or human error.

Our automated solution was designed from the ground up, based on all the latest case law, and accurately predicts the same status determinations as all historic IR35 court cases.

The assessment system was originally built in 2009, and has undergone significant fine-tuning and refinement over the past 8 years to ensure it delivers accurate results.

Unlike HMRC's CEST tool, IR35 Shield delivers the correct status for all IR35 court cases.

	IR35 Shield	HMRC CEST tool	Manual assessments
Speed	15 minutes	15 minutes	Up to 5 days
Pricing	FREE assessment. £59.99 for detailed Status Determination Statement and certificate.	Free to get a result. No certification.	Payment for result. Up to £275.
Intelligence / AI	Self learning virtual employment status lawyer	Basic checklist approach	Manual process
Court cases	Gives same results as all IR35 court cases	Incorrect result for 8 out of 22 IR35 court cases	N/A
Certainty	Definitive result given for 98% of cases	25% of cases give "indeterminate" result	Unknown
Approach	Correct legal approach used - based on Hall vs Lorimer	Omits fundamental areas of case law. Flawed approach.	Varied inconsistent techniques. Prone to human error.
Longevity / Experience	Refined by experts over 11 years. Used 100,000+ times.	Built too quickly - Unfinished. Unreliable. Not trusted.	Varied experience and qualifications

	Speed
IR35 Shield	15 minutes
HMRC CEST tool	15 minutes
Manual assessments	Up to 5 days

	Pricing
IR35 Shield	FREE assessment. £59.99 for detailed Status Determination Statement and certificate.
HMRC CEST tool	Free to get a result. No certification.
Manual assessments	Payment for result. Up to £275.

	Intelligence / AI
IR35 Shield	Self learning virtual employment status lawyer
HMRC CEST tool	Basic checklist approach
Manual assessments	Manual process

	Court cases
IR35 Shield	Gives same results as all IR35 court cases
HMRC CEST tool	Incorrect result for 8 out of 22 IR35 court cases
Manual assessments	N/A

	Certainty
IR35 Shield	Definitive result given for 98% of cases
HMRC CEST tool	25% of cases give "indeterminate" result
Manual assessments	Unknown

	Approach
IR35 Shield	Correct legal approach used - based on Hall vs Lorimer
HMRC CEST tool	Omits fundamental areas of case law. Flawed approach.
Manual assessments	Varied inconsistent techniques. Prone to human error.

	Longevity / Experience
IR35 Shield	Refined by experts over 11 years. Used 100,000+ times.
HMRC CEST tool	Built too quickly - Unfinished. Unreliable. Not trusted.
Manual assessments	Varied experience and qualifications