ESM0556 | Guide to determining status: picture painting

When the facts have been obtained and due consideration has been given to them, it is not then just a question of undertaking a mechanical exercise of running through items on a check list to see whether they are present or not. Moreover, not all details are of equal weight or importance in any given situation and they may also vary in importance from one situation to another.

The right approach is to stand back and look at the picture as a whole to see if the overall effect is that of a person in business on his or her own account or a person working as an employee in someone else’s business.

Where that picture suggests that effect could be one or the other then the intention of the parties may decide the issue.