Dave Chaplin, CEO of Contractor Calculator, started working in the City of London in 1994 and became a contractor in 1997. He has consulted for blue-chip firms including Cable & Wireless, Merrill Lynch, HSBC, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. After eight years contracting, Dave left contracting to focus full time on ContractorCalculator.
Dave has consulted with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs on the future of IR35 and on tax simplification. He also participates in industry-shaping roundtable events and continues to influence the next generation of contractors on successful contracting.
Recent Items
Has HMRC contributed to ITV Daytime TV demise?
Is the £61m tax status related bill in ITV’s accounts one reason for the demise of Daytime TV?
Last May | Saturday, 24 May 2025
Hasta-la-vista taxpayers: Chiles IR35 case shows lawfare is back
Chaplin argues the BBL highlights issues with HMRC's Litigation and Settlement Strategy (LSS) and the fairness of the tax tribunal system.
Last August | Sunday, 11 August 2024
The war on the self-employed must stop
For two decades, Governments have allowed Treasury and HMRC to launch legislative “tax cluster bombs” against a perceived threat — the self-employed.
Others | Monday, 14 August 2023
Contracting will grow which neither Government nor HMRC can prevent
It is pointless for the Conservatives and HMRC to swim against the tide of the growing movement to personal autonomy and the growth of freelancing. They aren't going to win.
Others | Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Off-payroll is more certain, but we need a Taxpayers Fairness Act
Rather than relying on presenters of daytime celebrity chat shows to fund a reshaping of our tax laws, it is time for a Taxpayer First Act, says Dave Chaplin.
Others | Monday, 12 December 2022
IR35 & Off-payroll – what does the future hold for contractors?
What seems like a relentless attack by HMRC on the contracting community is unlikely to work, says Dave Chaplin, CEO of ContractorCalculator.
Others | Thursday, 21 April 2022
Off-Payroll (IR35): from campaigning to preparation
The recent Parliamentary vote signals the end for our Stop The Off-Payroll Tax campaign, and the beginning of final preparations ahead of April 2021.
Others | Monday, 13 July 2020
COVID-19 should forever kill HMRC’s bulls**t concept of ‘deemed employment’
COVID-19 has laid bare the flaws and anomalies within Government’s treatment of the self-employed, in particular the notion of ‘deemed employment’.
Others | Thursday, 26 March 2020
Fear of uncertainty is killing the flexible workforce
Through the draconian Off-Payroll Tax, HMRC has leveraged fear and uncertainty in a manner that looks set to decimate the UK’s flexible workforce.
Others | Tuesday, 17 March 2020
Please Boris, don’t torch the UK’s flexible workforce
PM Boris Johnson stands of the verge of torching the UK’s flexible workforce, causing irreversible damage to business and the economy in the process.
Others | Monday, 24 February 2020
Stop the Off-Payroll Tax: Final push required to mitigate Off-Payroll damage
The contract sector needs to rally together to capitalise on its campaign efforts and help mitigate the damage threatened by the Off-Payroll tax.
Others | Tuesday, 10 September 2019
GSK letters show HMRC as no better than a common scammer wrecking the UK economy
Is HMRC out of control? Its latest phishing letters make false demands, scamming small businesses like a con artist and wrecking the UK economy.
Others | Thursday, 5 September 2019
Firms who act early should not fear the Off-Payroll reforms
Firms shouldn’t panic about the introduction of the Off-Payroll reforms, providing they implement compliance practices well in advance of April 2020.
Others | Monday, 24 June 2019
How Off-Payroll toxifies relationships between business, agencies and the self-employed
Due to an imbalance of power and rife non-compliance, the Off-Payroll rules threaten a breakdown of relationships throughout the supply chain.
Others | Thursday, 17 January 2019
The IR35 (Off-Payroll) landscape for 2019/2020
2019 will be a critical year for IR35 and flexible working in the UK. Contractors need to act now to prevent catastrophic change and preserve their futures.
Others | Tuesday, 8 January 2019
The off-payroll tax - what's the latest on IR35?
It’s crazy that almost two decades after the misguided IR35 legislation was introduced in April 2000, it has now been loudly resurrected.
Others | Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Government’s Good Work Plan in jeopardy as Off-Payroll tax threatens the low paid
HMRC risks nullifying Government’s Good Work Plan with the Off-Payroll tax, providing exploitative hirers with further leverage over low paid workers.
Others | Monday, 3 September 2018
£200m tax reclaim among multiple consequences of HMRC’s malfunctioning CEST tool
HMRC is refusing to acknowledge the facts concerning its flawed CEST tool, when it should be bracing itself for a serious, and costly, fallout.
Others | Friday, 3 August 2018
HMRC and IR35 have fuelled tax avoidance, which will worsen with Off-Payroll
HMRC’s war on tax avoidance wouldn’t be necessary if it wasn’t for its punitive IR35 regime. Now the Off-Payroll rules look set to make matters worse.
Others | Wednesday, 18 July 2018
HMRC to announce legal position on MOO by end of July 2018
CEST and the taxman’s private sector Off-Payroll proposals hang in the balance as HMRC nears its judgement day, where it will finally publish its legal position on MOO.
Others | Thursday, 21 June 2018