The survey hopes to gain a detailed understanding of how freelancers, contractors and sub-contractors interact with HMRC. Areas covered include the conduct of tax inspectors, investigations, the current reforms being undertaken within HMRC and specialist areas such as IR35 - a tax which treats some small businesses as 'disguised employees'.

PCG wants to ensure as broad a sample as possible for this survey, and so it is open to non-members as well as members.

PCG’s Chief Executive Officer John Thomas said: “We have repeatedly warned HMRC not to underestimate the difficulties it faces in regaining the trust of small businesses in the UK. With this survey we aim to quantify exactly how the freelance community views the tax authority and what can be done to remedy the problems.”

The survey asks a comprehensive set of questions about your experiences of the tax system, your impressions of HMRC and what you would like to see in the future. You can pass on any questions which are not directly relevant to your experiences

The results of the survey will be fed directly into the ongoing work to reform HMRC following its creation in 2005. This includes work on:

• HMRC’s civil powers


• HMRC’s criminal powers


• a new Management Act for HMRC


• New safeguards for HMRC.

The survey consists of 40 questions and the responses are anonymous. To participate in the survey click here

The results of the survey will be available in the future.

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Susie Hughes
The Editor © Hardhatter 2007