A split decision in one of the latest IR35 appeal cases has potentially opened the door for NHS locums to find themselves judged as being outside of IR35. These could be huge for potentially thousands of NHS locums. In the case of GML vs HMRC Judge Charles Hellier came to differing conclusions on different assignments. Something that flies straight in the face of the blanket approach the NHS took when it came to IR35 status.
In essence this decision reinforces a long held belief by many that the NHS was wrong to take a default position that locums are caught by IR35 (as instructed by HMRC themselves). The NHS should now have to look at each case individually, opening up the potential for many in similar circumstances to achieve an “outside the scope of IR35” status. With the wrong implementation of MOO now firmly in the sites and the CEST tool facing ever more challenge the tide could finally be turning for hard suffering NHS locums pushed en masse inside IR35.