The PCG was formed in May 1999 to represent contractors and lobby against the controversial IR35 tax legislation which treats small businesses in the knowledge-based sector as “disguised employees” for tax and National Insurance purposes, thereby preventing them from operating on similar terms to their larger competitors.
In April this year, the High Court found that the IR35 law was not in breach of any European free trade laws or the Human Rights Act, as is being argued by the PCG. The PCG has already vowed to take the matter to the European courts if its current appeal is unsuccessful.