PCG Win Again at the Special Commissioners

The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) announce that PCG member Roger Tilbury from Bedford has won his case at the Special Commissioners.

Issues of substitution and control were apparently key factors in the case of Tilbury Consulting Limited v Margaret Gittins (Her Majestys Inspector of Taxes), in which Inland Revenue sought to show that Tilbury was a disguised employee of his end client, Ford Motor Company. His contract was actually with Compuware, to which Ford had outsourced its application management centre.

In handing down his nine page judgement, Mr Stephen Oliver QC concentrated on the facts of the case. These included the fact that Tilbury Consulting Limited had the qualified right to send a substitute but had never exercised this, that it was not part of the direct manager from Fords function to tell Tilbury how to do the work, and that Tilbury had a different colour pass from the Ford employee pass which did not entitle him to use of the gym. He also noted that Tilbury was paid by the hour, and that it was not a matter of concern to Ford who provided the services, or that some of the work was undertaken at Tilbury Consultings premises.

He concluded that Mr Tilbury would not have been regarded as Fords employee, firstly because it did not have operational control over how the project was undertaken, secondly because of the right of substitution between Compuware and Ford and between Tilbury Consulting and Compuware, and finally because Tilbury was not part of Fords business or undertaking. These factors were, in his opinion, inconsistent with employment.

Added to site on 05/11/03

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