The UK has signed up to the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) model rules for reporting by digital platforms. Under the rules, a digital platform operator must collect and check information from sellers and send an annual report to HMRC. The first report will cover the year to 31 December 2024. It must have been submitted to HMRC by 31 January 2025.    

There has been some concern in our industry about our place in this legislation, so Steve Wright of the Licensed Private Hire Car Association (LPHCA), David Lawrie of the National Private Hire and Taxi Association (NPHTA), and Gary Jacobs of Eazitax (Industry Accountants) met with representatives from the HMRC Digital Platforms Team and the Department for Transport to discuss the new reporting rules for digital platforms.

The meeting with HMRC was organised by The LPHCA as the second major collaborative project in recent weeks with the NPHTA alongside Eazitax, whom we both had worked closely with on other HMRC issues.

Together, we emphasised the need for clarity and understanding for taxi and private hire vehicle operators and industry software suppliers regarding their obligations under these regulations.

The HMRC Team provided an overview of the OECD's reporting rules, which require platform operators to report seller information to HMRC starting this year. However, it was clarified that these rules are only for those captured by the legislation.

We raised concerns regarding the confusion surrounding the definitions of operators and platforms, as well as the lack of clear guidance from HMRC.

We highlighted that there was widespread misunderstanding among operators about their reporting responsibilities, if any!

We emphasised the need for clearer communication and definitions to facilitate compliance, particularly for those with limited resources.

The HMRC team was given clear examples of where the definitions were not clear to our trade and all participants expressed a desire for collaboration.

It was made clear that penalties would only be applied to those who are aware that they are captured by the legislation and choose not to comply.

So those who are genuinely unsure as to their obligations and require help will get it and not be penalised.

A proposal was made for us to outline various scenarios and definitions related to the reporting rules, with the aim of improving understanding and cooperation between HMRC and the private hire sector.

We will therefore be working further with HMRC but reporting to our members and the wider trade as we move forward.

We pointed out that, from what we could gather, the majority of our industry WOULD NOT be affected by this new requirement, as it seems to be more aimed at “platforms” such as Ebay, Etsy, Amazon, Airbnb, etc; where an item or a service is advertised and paid for on the platform only, the platform then passes payment on to the seller, which does not fit into the majority of private hire operators' working models.

HMRC was extremely receptive to our comments and recognised that with the combined input from the two largest industry representative bodies, it would indeed be highly beneficial to work together towards clarity.

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