Contractors who are fully and clearly self-employed according to HMRC criteria will be considered outside IR35. In terms of end-clients, small businesses (as defined in the Companies Act 2006) are exempt from IR35. Companies are always considered as ‘small businesses” in their first financial year of trading. After that, they will be considered small if two of the following criteria are met over two consecutive financial years: –   Annual turnover £10.2 million or less –   Balance sheet total of £5.1 million or less –   No more than 50 employees for the company’s financial year.