ContractorCalculator has learned that locum urologist George Mantides has appealed an FTT split decision in the UTT that is currently making progress – but the final decision may depend on MOO decision from the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) Court of Appeal (CoA): https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/TCC/2021/205.pdf
Having received a split decision in the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) in 2019, locum urologist George Mantides of George Mantides Limited appealed part of the decision and took his case to the Upper Tribunal (UT).
The UTT case has been partly heard with an err in law already confirmed, leaving open the possibility of Mantides overturning the decision. The tribunal judges ruled in favour of George Mantides on Grounds 1 and 2 of appeal. However, Ground 3 will require further consideration and will be considered after the outcome of the PGMOL case that has recently been heard in the CoA.
Commenting, Dave Chaplin, CEO of ContractorCalculator said: “These decisions could have widespread implications for one of the key indicators of employment status, mutuality of obligation (MOO), and how HMRC interprets and applies it. There is a lot at stake here, with the decision in PGMOL and lots of cases are stacking up behind it, waiting for the result.
“This is a key case however. If PGMOL win on MOO, then it opens up the door for this appeal also succeeding on MOO. This could then mean that vast numbers of medical locums were given determinations on status that were incorrect, based on specific guidance from HMRC, and they would have suffered financial detriment as a result.
“That could have very bad consequences for HMRC, particularly for their CEST tool – which ignores the kind of MOO defined in the PGMOL UTT decision. Watch this space.”