IR35 (doesn’t) strike again!
Many of our contractor clients may be concerned about correspondence they are receiving from the agencies who facilitate their contracts with their end client (for example Sellafield). This correspondence is requesting personal tax information.
A new law has just been introduced which means that all agencies (i.e. the companies who arrange workers to a third party; the legislation talks about “intermediaries”) have to send in a quarterly report to H M Revenue & Customs, listing all the workers involved, the workers company details, and the amount paid to the company in the quarter.
This legislation does not affect the running of the contractor companies, and nor will it affect whether you are subject to the “IR35” rules. It is a separate piece of legislation.
The information which the agencies are required – by law - to supply to H M Revenue & Customs is as follows:
The worker's full name and address
The worker’s date of birth and gender
The worker’s national insurance number and “UTR” (your personal 10 digit tax reference)
The name and address of the worker’s company
This company’s Companies House registration number
Whether VAT was included in the payment
Interestingly, although the agency is required to state whether VAT was paid or not, HMRC does NOT ask for the company’s VAT number. We are aware that at least one agency is asking for your VAT number as well as a copy of your passport but neither of these are required by the legislation.
Consequently, if you receive a request for the information listed above, we recommend that you do supply it (but only the information listed).
Alternatively we can provide the information for you as the various references are easily accessible on our files. In this case please email or talk to your normal robinson+co contact.
