Looking at the criteria just for fun today it is easy to realise it is not built on solid ground the contracting thing.

RAT 5 - Isn't that what we pay accountants for?

Yes, but you have to remember that they're part of the Taxation Industry...all money-shufflers,like the taxman......when I first went self -employed, I asked another Local S-E person, who was a good accountant and on his reccomendation, signed -up with A .Z Come an interview with Mr. Revenue< I informed him that A.Z. was my Accountant....."Very good man " says Revenue"straight as a die, I play Cricket with him"

Yes! I'd dropped a brick! One pays an accountant to exploit legal loopholes and trading -structures, to benefit ones self,- not to work for Mr. Revenue.
A.Z was dropped after the first year....I explained the extra tax I would pay, was far less than his fees...or, to put it bluntly, he wasn't earning his keep.
These "Contractor" contracts are on very shaky ground I believe they won't stand up to scrutiny, and I think the key area is legal hours.

If a contractor does not fly his legal, allowable duty-hours in a year, he has a "buffer" of unused working time to sell...BUT HIS CONTRACT PROHIBITS THAT.

The whole ethos of being self-employed, is thea you are free to exploit your own talents as you see fit. The contract caps any entreprenurial intent. ( unless you pursue an entirely different trade on your non-contracted days) highly unlikely it would pass scrutiny.

I suspect Enron, Anderson Consulting, RBS, and hoards of others said the same thing. Down the pan they went anyway, even though the accounts had been signed off as kosher.

Great point, it is such a charade this whole thing once you look a little bit closer. Simply log onto the HMRC website and answer the questions there to see where you are in relation to what should be. :ok: