Agency to provide HMRC with quarterly updates on personal service companies

[dmuk]

Apparently from next week the on site agency will send contractor information to HMRC on a quarterly basis (name, address, payments, etc).

Something to do with the "Income Tax Earnings & Pensions Act 2003 (ITEPA)".

Does this have any negative implications for contractors?

[BolshieBastard]

Apparently from next week the on site agency will send contractor information to HMRC on a quarterly basis (name, address, payments, etc).

Something to do with the "Income Tax Earnings & Pensions Act 2003 (ITEPA)".

Does this have any negative implications for contractors?

Its a new requirement that's been brought in. Its to help HMRC target IR35 investigations.

[SueEllen]

.

Does this have any negative implications for contractors?

Yep if you act dodgy and HMRC want to nail you.

[SueEllen]

Its a new requirement that's been brought in. Its to help HMRC target IR35 investigations.

Since they have limited man power it won't help that much.

However as one poster posted a while ago that someone she knew was contracting through a dissolved company so not paying VAT, it does mean that in theory the different parts of HMRC can work together to find people.

[TykeMerc]

Since they have limited man power it won't help that much.

However as one poster posted a while ago that someone she knew was contracting through a dissolved company so not paying VAT, it does mean that in theory the different parts of HMRC can work together to find people.

With their track record of screw ups (I still get frequent letters from them attempting to collect a non debt from years ago) they will end up hassling the innocent and ignoring the fraudulent

[northernladuk]

Wish people would think that if a new piece of legislation is coming it might just possibly been discussed a number of times and spend a few minutes searching.

[Boo]

Wish people would think that if a new piece of legation is coming it might just possibly been discussed a number of times and spend a few minutes searching.

Wish people who are oposed to the exchange of opinions and information on forums like these would just foxtrot oscar and leave the rest of us to it.

Boo

[BlasterBates]

It does sound like now as a contractor you can expect an HMRC bod to look at you at some point, even if it's a cursory glance on a computer screen. In the past you would be unlucky if someone were to check up. It was possible to hide amongst the millions of small companies.

[Whorty]

Ironically, me as a contractor who gets my roles (6 - 12 months max in length) via an agency could be open to being investigated, but a chap i spoke to last week who has contracted direct with the same company for 9 years (he used to work for them as a perm before that) would not be on the HMRC radar!

[Zero Liability]

That's assuming they don't already have means of telling if someone is a contractor, which they do. That, plus they went after quite a few contractors going at it direct last year. The only new information this stuff adds is the client or project name and length of the engagement and, I suppose, the fact that you're working through an agency, which is very commonplace. It may help them fine tune their targeting and "campaigns" a little but like SueEllen said it doesn't really change very much else.

It may, however, integrate well with the proposed FLC concept, should agencies be exempted from reporting payments to those, but that is hypothetical at present; these requirements are mainly targeted at dodgy umbrellas and it doesn't really provide much information other than that detailed above, which again, is far less important than the stuff they already know through your accounts and returns alone.