Protect · IR35 Agent

IR35 disputes cost more
to fix than to catch.
SHIELD catches them first.

SHIELD scans every contractor and off-payroll engagement, scores status risk against live directives, and flags the ones that need a second look — before HMRC opens an enquiry, not after.

DailyEngagement risk sweep
ScoredRisk assessed, not guessed
BeforeHMRC ever opens an enquiry
SHIELD
Engagement scanning · Status risk scoring · Directive-driven evidence · Flagged-risk routing
Works with ZARA, SENTINEL & WARDEN
The PROTECT department — Companies House, insurance, licensing and IR35 risk, all watched the same way
DailyEngagement risk scan
ScoredNot a checklist — a risk score
4PROTECT-department agents working together
FlaggedNot filed automatically — reviewed by you
How It Works

Risk caught while it's still cheap to fix.

SHIELD doesn't wait for an HMRC letter to tell you there's a problem. It's already looking.

01

Scan every engagement

Contractor and off-payroll engagements are read continuously, not reviewed once at onboarding and forgotten.

Engagement scanning
02

Score the status risk

Each engagement is scored for IR35 status risk against live compliance directives, with the evidence behind the score kept, not just a verdict.

Risk scoring
03

Route the flagged ones

Anything above your risk threshold is flagged for review — SHIELD surfaces the risk, a human makes the call on what changes.

Flagged-risk routing

Who SHIELD is built for.

The cost of a wrong status determination doesn't show up until years later.

"IR35 liability doesn't land on the day of the mistake. It lands on the day HMRC reviews the engagement, sometimes years after it ended."

Continuous SHIELD scans engagements on an ongoing basis, not once at onboarding

"A risk score with the evidence behind it is something you can act on. A gut feeling about IR35 status is not."

Evidenced Every score is backed by the directive evidence that produced it
FAQ

Questions about SHIELD

What is SHIELD?

SHIELD is the IR35 compliance agent inside SME Growth Team. It scans contractor and off-payroll engagement setups, scores IR35 status risk, and routes flagged risk for review, before an engagement becomes an HMRC enquiry.

Why does IR35 status risk matter?

A wrong status determination shifts tax liability, National Insurance and potential penalties onto the engaging business, often years after the contract ended. SHIELD flags the risk while the engagement is still live.

How does SHIELD fit into the wider system?

SHIELD sits in the PROTECT department alongside ZARA (Companies House compliance), SENTINEL (insurance) and WARDEN (licence/regulatory) — the compliance layer that runs before a risk becomes a cost.

Get Started

Know your IR35 exposure.
Before HMRC asks.

SHIELD is part of the PROTECT department inside SME Growth Team's compliance layer.