ESM7120 - Case Law: Sidey v Phillips

1986 case - 59TC458

Point at issue

The point at issue was whether Mr Sidey received part-time lecturing fees under contracts of service or contracts for services.

Facts

Mr Sidey was a barrister and derived his income from three approximately equal sources – writing, examining titles for the Land Registry and part-time lecturing.

Assessments under Schedule E were made on him in respect of the part-time lecturing fees received from two institutions, Thames Polytechnic and the Inner London Education Authority. Mr Sidney appealed to the Special Commissioners as he considered that the remuneration was chargeable under Schedule D.

Decision

In the High Court, Knox J. held that the terms and conditions of the appointments were such that the contracts were contracts of service.

Commentary

Knox J found that there was evidence of quite a significant amount of control being exercisable by both institutions. Although no holiday pay was due, this was taken into account in calculating the hourly rate and it was in any event not a weighty factor.

This is not a particularly important case. The general principle demonstrated in this case is that a self-employed person might also have a separate source of income as an employee.