Joint and several liability (“JSL”)

Spokespeople within the industry have, following a meeting with HMRC and HMT, released news that the operation of payroll will remain with the Umbrella company. This means that Umbrellas will continue to deduct and remit to HMRC tax and national insurance (NI) under their own employer reference number.

Although this is very positive news for compliant businesses within the industry, it is yet to be approved by the Treasury and we are waiting on legislation, expected July 2025.

As we understand, the agency closest to the end client in the supply chain will be liable for any tax shortfall, should it occur, but that a joint and several approach to liability would be adopted. If there is no agency in the chain, liability falls on the end client.

What is JSL?