Taxi Driver Online

HMRC has published a couple of notices about the tax checks necessary for applying for badges and PH operators' licences from April 2022.

Nothing particularly new as far as I can see, but just to reiterate, this applies only to England and Wales. Other parts of the UK should follow later. And it's about HC and PH badges and PH operators' licences, but not plates.

For renewals, or if you're reapplying for the same licence that lapsed less than a year ago, or if you're applying to another local authority for the same type of licence, you need to perform a tax check with HMRC, then you get a 'tax check code' which is forwarded to the local authority.

For new applications, or where the licence has been lapsed for more than a year, the local authority has to make sure the applicant is 'aware of their tax responsibilities' before a licence is granted.

Anyway, this is some of the official spiel below, but I've chopped it down a bit to focus on the most relevant parts, and the other stuff is about registering a Government Gateway ID, self-assessment procedures, corporation tax etc. But visit the links for the full official text.

Further guidance will be published in January 2022.

There are two notices. The first is aimed at applicants, while the second is aimed at licensing authorities.

For anyone's who's been following this issue, the notice for local authorities is slightly more interesting than the one aimed at applicants

Changes for taxi, private hire or scrap metal licence applications from April 2022

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/changes-for ... april-2022

What you'll need to do to meet new rules if you're applying for a taxi, private hire or scrap metal licence on or after 4 April 2022.

From: HM Revenue & Customs
Published 13 October 2021

Applies to England and Wales

What’s changing

The rules are changing if you’re an individual, company or any type of partnership applying for a licence for a:

• taxi driver
• private hire driver
• private hire vehicle operator

If you make an application on or after 4 April 2022 you’ll need to complete a tax check if you’re:

• renewing a licence
• applying for the same type of licence you previously held, that ceased being valid less than a year ago
• applying for the same type of licence you already hold with another licensing authority

You must carry out the tax check yourself. You cannot ask a tax agent or adviser to do this on your behalf.

The tax check will ask questions about how you pay any tax that may be due on income you earn from your licensed trade.

After you have completed the tax check you will be given a 9-character tax check code.

You will need to give the code on your application to the licensing authority, so they can confirm you have carried out a tax check.

You will not be granted a licence if you do not give a tax check code to your licensing authority.

Changes when dealing with taxi, private hire or scrap metal licence applications from April 2022

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/changes-whe ... april-2022

What licensing authorities should do to meet new rules when reviewing taxi, private hire and scrap metal licence applications on or after 4 April 2022.

From: HM Revenue & Customs
Published 13 October 2021

Applies to England and Wales

What’s changing

The rules are changing for applications for:

• taxi driver licences
• private hire driver licences
• private hire vehicle operator licences

From 4 April 2022, licensing authorities must carry out checks on applications from individuals, companies and any type of partnership to make sure they are aware of their tax responsibilities or have completed a tax check.

Guidance on what licencing authorities must do when reviewing applications received on and after 4 April 2022 will be published in January 2022.

When you’ll need to confirm an applicant is aware of their tax responsibilities

The applicant will need to confirm they are aware of their tax responsibilities on their application if they are applying for a licence:

• for the first time
• that they have already held but has not been valid for over a year

You will not be able to grant or refuse a licence if the applicant has not confirmed they are aware of their tax responsibilities.

When you’ll need to confirm an applicant has completed a tax check

The applicant will need to complete a tax check then give you a tax check code on their application if they are:

• renewing a licence
• applying for the same type of licence they previously held, that ceased to be valid less than a year ago
• applying for the same type of licence they already hold with another licensing authority

You will then need to confirm the tax check has taken place.

You will not be able to grant or refuse a licence if you cannot confirm the applicant has completed a tax check.

What you should do before April 2022

Make sure your organisation has systems and processes in place ready for the changes on 4 April 2022, as you will need to:

• ask applicants if they currently hold, or have held in the last 12 months before this application, the same type of licence with one or more licensing authority (including the licensing body that the applicant is applying to now)
• ask the applicant for their 9-character tax check code if they have to complete a tax check, so you can confirm that it has been done
• record their Company Number, if the applicant is a company
• make the applicant aware that HMRC has powers to obtain information from licensing authorities, we suggest using the following wording:

‘Schedule 23 to Finance Act 2011 (Data Gathering Powers) and Schedule 36 to Finance Act 2008 (Information and Inspection Powers), grant HMRC powers to obtain relevant information from third parties. This includes licensing bodies being required to provide information about licence applicants.’

You must also give applicants who do not need to complete a tax check the following GOV.UK website addresses for HMRC guidance about tax registration obligations:

• PAYE information: http://www.gov.uk/income-tax/how-you-pay-income-tax
• registering for Self Assessment: http://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment
• Corporation Tax information: http://www.gov.uk/corporation-tax

You’ll also need to record that the applicant has confirmed they are aware of the guidance, you can do this by adding a declaration onto the application form. We suggest using the following wording:

‘I confirm that I am aware of the content of HMRC guidance relating to my/our (delete as applicable) tax registration obligations.’

What will employees on PAYE have to do?

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Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5

Big Brother really does want to watch you.

Can't see that it's any different from any other applicant for a badge, so if *renewing* they would go online, answer questions about how they pay tax, and then they give the 'tax check code' to the relevant council.

If it's a *new* applicant for a badge, they'd just be 'reminded of their tax responsiblities' by the council before it's granted.

I'm guessing same as self-employed.

Fill in the tax check and grab a code.

_________________
IDFIMH

Kind of reminds me of the likes of Dundee City Council, who require applicants to supply their tax reference and NI numbers.

So there's an obvious avenue for cross-checks there, but I'm not sure if it was intended just as a deterrent, or if there was actually much compliance checking going on. But if there was, I'd have thought that only small numbers would be involved.

So the difference with this new scheme is that there will be an element of compliance checking going on, and everyone who wants to renew will be affected.

But for those with straightforward tax affairs and in the trade for a number of years like me, I'm hoping it'll be little more than a reasonably simple form-filling and box-ticking exercise, mabye not unlike the SEISS and Scottish Government Covid grant applications

Think it's easy to think about it all as targetted at self-employed drivers paying tax under self assessment rather than the small number of PAYE drivers, but in reality it's better to think of it as just being about badgeholders as a whole, and a check on their tax status. So presumably we'll just have to go online, and be asked about how we pay tax, and there will be options for self assement and PAYE, and then we'll have to provide information based on that.

This below from Taxi-Point maybe provides slightly more of an insight, although the devil will be in the detail.

But slightly amusing that boss's boss Steve Wright worries that it might be a 'barrier to entry'. Er, isn't that the idea?

To be fair, maybe he thinks the whole procedure will be a bit too onerous, but I'm hoping it won't be any more difficult than applying for the SEISS grants. So doing that once every three years shouldn't be too difficult, and of course subsequent checks more likely to be easier than the initial one, at least for drivers with simple tax affairs like me

Anway, this is the relevant stuff from the Taxi-Point article below, but I've missed out the parts that are essentially what has been posted earlier in the thread.

New mandatory taxi and minicab TAX CHECKS must not become a ‘barrier to entry’ says representative

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/new-m ... esentative

From 4 April 2022 licensing bodies will be required to signpost first-time applicants to HMRC guidance about their potential tax obligations and gather confirmation that the applicant is aware of the guidance before considering the application.

Where the application is not a first-time application, for example a renewed application, the licensing body must, before considering the application, obtain confirmation from HMRC that the applicant has completed a tax check.

The driver must then digitally run through questions on the subject of past and current employment and receive a ‘Tax Check Complete’ code to then forward to the licensing authority.

Within the tax check, taxi drivers who hold a taxi licence, but currently work elsewhere outside of being a cabbie, will be able to detail the other employment.

At the LPHCA Road Show there were however worries over how prepared the industry was for the changes. Concerned driver representatives were keen to warn the checks should not become a barrier to entry.

Steve Wright, LPHCA Chairman, said: “It’s absolutely critical that a) we make the industry aware that this is coming because we don’t want it to be a barrier to entry to the drivers, and b) the licensing authorities are up to speed on this.”

Wright finished by saying “we do not need another delay” pushed onto the drivers’ licensing process.

As part of the new checks, cabbies will be asked to provide details on when they first received their licence and how long their most recent licence is or was valid for.

Jamie Horton, HMRC Assistant Director, Hidden Economy, Customer Compliance

Group, detailed the process taxi drivers and those working in the private hire sector must take from April 2022 during the Licensed Private Hire Car Association (LPHCA) Road Show.

The fresh measures come as HMRC looks to clamp down on lost revenue in the ‘hidden economy’. The new policy will also affect licensing bodies in England and Wales that administer licence applications.

This will be a huge barrier to entry, and only the most naive will think otherwise.

Especially if a driver wants to work part-time off the books.

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IDFIMH

The taxi/PH trade is the least prepared trade for any changes.

I suspect less than 5% of the trade actually know about the April 2022 changes, and that's being generous.

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IDFIMH

Nothing new in this article from the Mail on Sunday, but hopefully it will spread the word to a few more drivers who maybe need to start registering very soon.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mar ... kdown.html

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IDFIMH

What is to stop a person from registering for tax purposes and only declaring a very small income just as many of them do now?

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Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5

There is a simple solution to this, every licensing authority must inform HMRC of the details of any person it grants a license to, which would stop the need to have to apply for this unique code number when the majority of the trade are already tax compliant.

If this had been adopted every license holder would be known to the HMRC from day one.