back to listings SME Profile: Re Legal Consulting Ltd
t: +44 (0)7967 634415 e: info@relegalconsulting.co.uk w: relegalconsulting.co.uk
Welcome to Re Legal Consulting Ltd
Background
Rebecca Seeley Harris LLB (Hons) LLM MSc is the owner and founder of Re Legal Consulting Ltd. Rebecca set up her legal consultancy when the Inland Revenue brought in the IR35 tax initiative over 20 years ago. Since then Rebecca has specialised in IR35, off-payroll working and the employment and tax status of the self-employed and personal service companies and, more lately, the Gig Economy. She works with clients nationally and internationally, the private and the public sector, with representative organisations and the government.
She was also seconded to the Office of Tax Simplification (an independent body of HM Treasury) as a Senior Policy Adviser to advise the government on employment and tax status. Reporting direct to the then Chancellor, Rebecca was part of a small team of experts who drafted the Employment Status Review 2015, she then continued for several years to advise on the review of Small Company Taxation leading on the taxation of nano companies and the self-employed. Rebecca was also a representative on the Cross-Government Working Group on Employment Status and also published a review into the taxation of the Gig Economy.
Rebecca writes regularly and presents on the topic of IR35 and employment status and more recently on the April 2021 reforms for off-payroll working. She is often quoted in the national press such as the Financial Times and the Telegraph and other professional publications including Tax Journal and websites such as AccountingWeb and is a regular on LBC radio. She is also a member of the Tax Faculty of the ICAEW and is a consultant to the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG) and Urgent Health UK, amongst others.
Rebecca has recently written a book called CEST Explained which, as the title suggests, explains HMRC’s digital tool Check Employment Status for Tax. Rebecca has written this book to help demystify the CEST questions and the guidance.
Rebecca was a finalist for the Taxation Awards Outstanding Achievement Award 2021, was awarded the Nigel Clothier Award for Special Contribution to University Tax 2021 and won the FSB Self-employed Sole Trader of the Year for the South West region 2022. She is also a judge on the Contracting Awards.
Rebecca also founded #Fair Umbrella to campaign for the regulation of the umbrella company industry and for the protection of the umbrella company worker and is the Chair of the Independent Arbitration Panel for the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA).
Services
Re Legal Consulting Ltd provides services to the private and public sector in helping them to be compliant with the off-payroll legislation whether the worker is self-employed, a PSC or an agency worker. The legislation in this area of the workforce is extremely complicated so using a specialist is a must. Various government departments have had tax in the region of £263m collected on the basis of non-compliance with IR35 so, it is essential to get the right advice.
Specialist services
Off-payroll audits, off-payroll (IR35), and self-employed assessment systems, assessments for unable to determine, external workforce structures, off-payroll compliance, relevant contracts and policies, officeholders, tax of international freelancers, Double Taxation Treaties and the self-employed, Taxation of small companies.
General services
Rebecca is a lawyer by background so can draft contracts and policies related to hiring a consultant, also if there is an agency involved. She can also review existing contracts and document management systems for the effective implementation of such a system. Rebecca also has a background in ISO27001 Information Security Management Systems. Is a certified Civil and Commercial Mediator and Executive Coach.
Specialist industries
The University sector, Urgent Healthcare, Aviation, the recruitment sector, Executive Coaching, Construction, Platform companies, Umbrella Companies, amongst others.
There are many businesses that are probably completely unaware that they are acting as a so called 'employment business' and that the legislation applies to them equally as it does to a traditional recruitment 'agency'. The recent HMRC Employment Intermediaries Reporting Requirements are a good example, where any business who supplies the services of a self-employed person or an individual who provides their services through a limited company, should be reporting certain details to HMRC. If these reports are not made, penalties will be incurred.
CEST Training
Re Legal Consulting can provide CEST Training and is the only company to provide this training backed by the book CEST Explained that Rebecca has written.
TESTIMONIALS
“Thank you for the great job you've done for the Office of Tax Simplification...I am told that your knowledge of employment issues and your ability to unpick the most technical aspects of legislation has been very valuable for the OTS...as has been you hard work in developing the OTS response to the issues faced in the gig economy."
Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer (2019)
"Thank you for the great job you have done for the Office of Tax Simplification and for all the support you have given to John Whiting and Jeremy Sherwood on the employment status review. I am told that your expert legal knowledge and experience has been really valuable for the office, as has been your skill in helping to put together the very impressive final report."
George Osbourne, Chancellor of the Exchequer (2016)