On 10th December it was announced in the Pre Budget report that there was an intention to introduce new legislation to tax owner-managers of companies to ensure the 'proper amount of tax' is paid.
The words of the announcement seem to indicate that the proposals are essentially an extension of IR35 and Section 660 which contractors are familiar with.
At the moment there is no concrete facts from the Inland Revenue that state exactly what the proposals are. However, from the words in the announcement one could conclude that they are targeting owners of companies who take low salaries and receive the rest as dividends. The dividend method has been used by company owners for many years as a way to reduce the taxation burden, in particular to avoid employers and employees NI payments. This was precisely why IR35 was introduced.