[UK] HMRC confirms that ‘CEST 2.0’ is now live

In the UK, HMRC has confirmed that ‘CEST 2.0’ - the update of its Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool - is up and running, Contractor UK reports.

An HMRC spokesperson confirmed the news to Contractor UK saying, “We successfully moved our CEST tool to a new platform on Monday 2nd October.”  

ContractorUK asked for confirmation that the tool has now moved to OCELOT, among other changes, following contractors reporting that there were no visible signs of CEST being updated.

The government’s CEST update notes reportedly fail to include the migration, despite recording smaller tweaks such as, from March 2017, “Added a link to the off-payroll working in the public sector guidance.”

However, on October 3 HMRC confirmed that the new technology behind CEST is now live and includes new features hoped to boost customer interaction with the tool.

For example, ESM guidance - designed to increase useability - has reportedly been embedded into CEST, meaning users need not find and open another web page in their browser when they are seeking help.

According to Contractor UK, such improvements for users - that are not flagged in CEST’s official update notes - are things CEST users will only notice when they run the tool.

The subdued launch for CEST 2.0 apparently echoes the way off-payroll advisers feel about the upgrade to what is potentially the only IR35-testing device HMRC will honour the results of.

“While we welcome amendments to CEST…this phase one of CEST 2.0 feels like a new platform base without the necessary contents behind it,” Patrick Joyce - from IR35 advisory Project Scopes - told Contractor UK.

Mr Joyce added, “So the slight changes should help with the format and process. But the real [key problems and] points are yet to be addressed.

“And for real change, the code behind CEST requires revamping, to take into consideration real scenarios, and actual contractor working practices…[if the tool is ever to] display reality.”

Source: Contractor UK

(Links and quotes via original reporting) 

In the UK, HMRC has confirmed that ‘CEST 2.0’ - the update of its Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool - is up and running, Contractor UK reports.

An HMRC spokesperson confirmed the news to Contractor UK saying, “We successfully moved our CEST tool to a new platform on Monday 2nd October.”  

ContractorUK asked for confirmation that the tool has now moved to OCELOT, among other changes, following contractors reporting that there were no visible signs of CEST being updated.

The government’s CEST update notes reportedly fail to include the migration, despite recording smaller tweaks such as, from March 2017, “Added a link to the off-payroll working in the public sector guidance.”

However, on October 3 HMRC confirmed that the new technology behind CEST is now live and includes new features hoped to boost customer interaction with the tool.

For example, ESM guidance - designed to increase useability - has reportedly been embedded into CEST, meaning users need not find and open another web page in their browser when they are seeking help.

According to Contractor UK, such improvements for users - that are not flagged in CEST’s official update notes - are things CEST users will only notice when they run the tool.

The subdued launch for CEST 2.0 apparently echoes the way off-payroll advisers feel about the upgrade to what is potentially the only IR35-testing device HMRC will honour the results of.

“While we welcome amendments to CEST…this phase one of CEST 2.0 feels like a new platform base without the necessary contents behind it,” Patrick Joyce - from IR35 advisory Project Scopes - told Contractor UK.

Mr Joyce added, “So the slight changes should help with the format and process. But the real [key problems and] points are yet to be addressed.

“And for real change, the code behind CEST requires revamping, to take into consideration real scenarios, and actual contractor working practices…[if the tool is ever to] display reality.”

Source: Contractor UK

(Links and quotes via original reporting)