Eazitax at the PHTM Expo

I look forward to seeing you all at the PHTM Expo, as well as exhibiting, I’ll be speaking there over
the two days.

Day one as Eazitax, the accountant, looking at the ‘Next Big Thing’ for me and my number crunching
mates and on Day Two we are back to my role as an industry consultant, talking about the pitfalls of
engaging self-employed drivers with my legal eagle friend Conor Nolan of Taxi Law, who will also
look in some detail at the realities of how drivers and operators actually function in the eyes of the
law.

As I write this, I must say that I have just read and was as enthralled by Dr Mike Galvin’s article (Now
counts as last month, available online) in which he encourages us to ‘not sweat the small stuff’ and
look at the larger commercial realities of ground transport but seek to influence, in truth, only at the
highest level. It made me revisit what and how I see the appropriateness of my own activities.

Conditionality

In the case of conditionality, (the obligation of drivers to prove they are taxpayers before receiving
or renewing their license) we participated in the consultation as far back as 2019, and knew it was
on the cards, but in terms of its publicity, it fell through the cracks between private hire and
accountancy.

I am actually old enough to remember when the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 came into
force and driver details were harvested by HMRC, the sense of fear and confusion was palpable, but
at that time we were predominantly a ‘cash’ business.
Nowadays, the industry is populated by savvy operators unafraid of tech and plenty of savvy drivers
that are more interested in how to reduce their tax liability in smart ways than whether to avoid
doing one. However, ‘post pandemic’ the timing could not have been worse, with many drivers on
the missing list or delivering anything but passengers. The loss of even 20% of untaxed drivers,
would be felt more acutely. Which is why I will be offering some actual practical tips on what to do.

That App

Tax and Self-employment issues leads me into talking about Day Two. I don’t even want to mention
that app company name again, but suffice to say, we won’t be talking about the Supreme Court
Ruling itself, anyone can Google the vast amounts of detail. We intend to actually look at all of the
detail and pitfalls which will be effective to the profitability of your business.

I am amazed at how much news space so many lawyers (that I have never heard of before in
connection to private hire), were used up, just saying that the driver worker landscape will change
forever with no evidential basis, but plenty of sweeping statements.
In reality the greatest short-term threat is the lack of clarity, definition, and precedent to allow
professionals to function with some certainty. There is a starting point of what isn’t Self Employment
Rights, which is the Employment Rights Act 1996. As to whether there are implications for Workers
that is a matter we will discuss on the day.

Do we even have a definition of what ‘A Worker’ or even for that matter a Limb (b) Worker is? OR to

what they are actually legally entitled? It’s all well quoting the holiday pay, sick pay, pension and
NMW, but what are the realities of applying them if they can be actually applied at all? So, it seems

that in reality Uber, and some other transport and tech giants, TFL, The Unions, tribunals and courts
still haven’t got the black and white paperwork to hang their hat on. So, at the moment operators and
their advisors can’t even decide if jumping the queue for a ‘Worker’ workforce is a sensible move.

We need to look at how to do it right or what legislation looks like that makes it work, rather than
what to do if it all goes wrong, because in the next few years it will.

Thankfully nevertheless (regardless of what you read); most drivers are still self-employed. If you
have read the verdicts and arguments, it always ends with “Look at your working Practices”
irrespective of what your self-employed (Contract for Services) says. What you don’t read is what
those ‘working practices’ that would be deemed as a self-employed driver workforce actually look
like. I look forward to laying out our secret strategies for all to see and answer some questions to
boot.

I hope that this article posed more questions than answers because I encourage everyone to come
and see us at The EXPO and let’s communicate (socially distanced) face to face, we have all missed it.

Register for the PHTM Expo here.