Limited liability partnership (LLP) members do not fit comfortably into a partner or an employee straitjacket, and rightly so. This is part of the much-heralded flexibility of the LLP structure which was introduced so successfully over a decade ago.

The proposed tax rules which, from 6 April 2014, will use economic criteria to determine whether LLP members are to be taxed as employees or self-employed, threaten to limit the appeal of LLPs. This comes with the Supreme Court also set to consider the question of rights of LLP members this March.