Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the effect on the public purse of bogus self-employment arising from there being no equivalent provision to employer national insurance contributions for self-employed.

The Government takes false self-employment very seriously and is committed to taking action to tackle this. Where companies are thought to have misclassified individuals, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will take steps to ensure that the appropriate tax, NICs, interest and penalties are paid.

An estimate of the effect on Exchequer of false self-employment is not available. HMRC publish estimates of the tax gap in ‘Measuring Tax Gaps’ each year. The latest estimates of the tax gap can be accessed at:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps

Separate information on the tax gap from false self-employment is not available.

National Insurance contribution rate increases have been ruled out for the remainder of this Parliament. The Government looks forward to the outcome of the Matthew Taylor report into modern employment practices to inform the Government’s review into employment practices in the modern economy.