<span data-preserver-spaces="true">HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool helps hirers, agencies and individuals to assess whether a worker should be classed as employed or self-employed for tax purposes, including whether the </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true">off-payroll</span><span data-preserver-spaces="true"> working (IR35) rules apply. HMRC will stand by CEST’s determinations provided the information is accurate and complete. With effect </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true">from 30 April 2025</span><span data-preserver-spaces="true">, the CEST tool has been updated with a new question to establish whether a contract is in place. A user can only continue to use the CEST tool if the answer is “yes”. This new question reflects the 2024 Supreme Court ruling in </span><em><span data-preserver-spaces="true">Professional Game Match Officials Limited v HMRC </span></em><span data-preserver-spaces="true">that where a contract exists, there is also mutuality of obligation, i.e. </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true">an obligation</span><span data-preserver-spaces="true"> on the employer to provide work and on the employee to accept it. It also addresses criticism that CEST did not previously address the mutuality of obligation test sufficiently. However, the underlying logic of CEST remains the same as before the update. Other changes include improved guidance and more user-friendly language and layout.</span>