and flying for only 1 operator is not an independent, it is being an employee.
Of course it is; always has been. The pilots' defence is a sort of "I was only obeying orders." From what we have heard it seems, allegedly, they had no choice. The contract was foisted upon them, take it or leave it. The whole contract content was without any input from the pilot nor any negotiation. The construction of the LTD in Ireland was without any input nor allowed objection from them. We hear it forbids them to work for anyone else or decide their time available and unavailable. How much more 'employee' can you be?
My comment about going for the soft target junkies, rather than the the hard dealers & sellers, is just that; soft targets. One might wonder if they are using them to lever open the door to the dark world behind. One might hope so, and the predominantly innocent parties, lower down the food chain, are not the only victims in any penalties.
There is a huge difference between pilots evading taxes and being pseudo self-employed. If the LTD is set up as told on here then taxes & other charges are paid. What happened before is something else. Where contributions might be incorrect = shortfall, is if their true status is deemed to be an employee. Then someone else should also be paying into the pot. That is where this will get interesting.
Last edited by RAT 5; 9th Jul 2016 at 11:09.