Government owes £236m in tax for off-payroll staff The Government has been criticised by MPs for "widespread non-compliance" with IR35 rules, which require companies to determine the tax status of freelancers and contractors. Whitehall departments owe HMRC £236m in back-taxes for workers wrongly assessed as self-employed for the tax year 2020-21. The Commons Public Accounts Committee said: "Such widespread non-compliance is not acceptable, particularly as government bodies should be best placed to understand the rules and communicate with HMRC.” However, MPs said rushed implementation of the IR35 rules and "poor guidance" along with no means of appealing a tax status for workers had made the issue worse.