Recruiters, are You on Top of Your Quarterly Intermediaries Reporting to HMRC?

It’s more important than ever for recruitment agencies to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation, and it can be difficult to keep up with all the requirements, so in this article we’re looking at what recruiters need to know about the Employment Intermediaries Reporting Requirements.

What are the reporting requirements for employment intermediaries?

As an employment intermediary / recruitment agency, if you supply temporary workers to an end client and you don’t pay those workers on a PAYE basis, you must submit an employment intermediaries report, giving HMRC details of any payments made to them, or to third parties in respect of their work. This includes:

  • Workers who are employed by an umbrella company or PEO
  • CIS workers who are paid gross
  • Workers who trade through their own Limited company

The employment intermediary / recruitment agency that holds the contract with the person who uses the worker’s services must send this information to HM Revenue and Customs. The employment intermediary / recruitment agency must use the employment intermediaries service to upload and send their reports.

How often do you need to submit a report?

The official reporting period is every three months:

  • 6th January to 5th April Deadline to be submitted by 5th May
  • 6th April to the 5th July Deadline to be submitted by 5th August.
  • 6th July to the 5th October Deadline to be submitted by 5th November
  • 6th October to the 5th January Deadline to be submitted by 5th February

You may decide to submit reports monthly or weekly instead, if this works better for you.

If the report is late or incorrect you can expect to receive a fine. These start at £250 for a first offence, doubling to £500 for a second, and rising to £1,000 for further offences in the same 12-month period.

How do you submit a report?

Complete the official HMRC template, which you can download here>> . You’ll need the following information for each worker:

  • Contractor’s name, address, date of birth
  • PAYE reference.
  • National Insurance number.
  • How the contractor was engaged during the period (for example, were they working via an umbrella company?)
  • The duration of each assignment.
  • Intermediary details (umbrella company or Limited company details)
  • How much you paid

For any workers who are engaged through Fair Pay Services we can supply a quarterly report with this information if required.

Once you’ve completed the template, you can submit it here>>. You’ll need a Government Gateway ID, but if you don’t have one you can create one when you submit your first report.

If you have questions or if we can help in any way, please call our expert team on 01604 360222 or email sales@fairpayservices.co.uk.