Agentic IR35 status determination and audit-defence service for UK small businesses and recruitment agencies that engage contractors, replacing the employment law solicitor or specialist IR35 consultant who manually produces Status Determination Statements (SDS) and audit-ready documentation. It interviews the engagement facts via a structured form, produces a defensible SDS with reasoning, flags borderline factors, and generates a contractor engagement policy document.
Why now
No live signal provided today; justified by HMRC's ongoing Off-Payroll compliance campaign — HMRC has publicly stated it will increase IR35 investigations through 2025–2026, and r/Entrepreneur and r/ContractorUK consistently surface SME anxiety about SDS liability and the cost of specialist reviews for each new contractor engagement.
Commercial value
Since Off-Payroll rules extended to private sector in April 2021, every UK business engaging contractors must issue a written SDS or face HMRC liability. Specialist IR35 reviews cost £300–£1,500 per contractor engagement from employment law firms or IR35 specialists (Qdos, Kingsbridge). A £99/determination or £299/mo for unlimited determinations (up to 10 contractors) is a 5–10x price reduction. Budget line: 'IR35 compliance / employment law' — a real, recurring cost for any SME using contractors.
Go-to-market
Direct outreach to UK SMEs with 5–50 staff via LinkedIn targeting HR/Finance Directors. Hook: 'Issue a legally defensible IR35 Status Determination Statement in 10 minutes — without a solicitor.' Partner with contractor accountants (SJD, Crunch) who refer clients needing SDS. First 10 customers via ContractorUK forum and r/ContractorUK offering first determination free.
2-week MVP
Structured 25-question form covering the three IR35 tests (substitution, control, mutuality of obligation) plus secondary factors; LLM scores each factor, produces a written SDS in the HMRC-recommended format with factor-by-factor reasoning, and outputs a one-page engagement policy addendum. No integration with HMRC CEST tool, no legal advice disclaimer beyond a standard one — purely form-in, SDS-out PDF. Day-1 outcome: SME has a written, reasoned SDS they can issue to a contractor and file for audit defence, replacing a £300 solicitor letter.
Agent score
0.72 — Commercial score is relatively high because the SDS is a legal requirement with direct HMRC liability attached — willingness to pay is driven by fear of enforcement, not discretionary budget, and the named competitor price point (£300–£1,500/review) makes the value proposition concrete. Speed score is high — the MVP is a form and LLM document generator, shippable solo in under 2 weeks, with a reachable first-customer community in ContractorUK forums. Defensibility is moderate — the form logic and SDS template are replicable, but a proprietary case library of borderline determinations and HMRC tribunal outcomes would create a meaningful moat after 6–12 months of use.
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