Employment intermediaries reporting requirements
Find guidance about the reports that intermediaries need to send to HMRC where they do not operate Pay As You Earn.
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An intermediary is any person who makes arrangements for an individual to work for a third party or pay for work done for a third party. An employment intermediary is also known as an agency.
Intermediaries must return details of all workers they place with clients where the intermediary does not operate Pay As You Earn (PAYE) on the workers’ payments. You must send the report (or reports) to HMRC at least once every 3 months. Intermediaries can decide how often you upload and send your reports. This could be weekly, monthly, once for each period, or whatever fits in best with how they work.
The intermediary that has the contract with the client is responsible for sending the reports.
You must use HMRC’s report template to create the reports. HMRC has provided an online service for you to upload and send your reports.
You do not have to send HMRC reports if all the following statement are true. You:
- are a UK employer
- supply workers to provide their services to end clients and nobody else is involved
- operate PAYE when you pay those workers
HMRC has consulted with intermediary representatives and has listened and responded to many of the concerns raised around the information to be included in the report. Where possible, HMRC has changed the final reporting requirements to reduce the regulatory burden.
Updates to this page
Last updated 26 July 2019 + show all updates
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Contact telephone number removed from 'What this means for an intermediary'.
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'What this means for an intermediary' guidance has been updated to include para 4.3.
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Updated guidance on the How to send reports to HMRC section within the What this means for an intermediary attachment.
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Updated guidance on what this means for an intermediary attachment for re-using a template and failure to send nil report/advice or complete.
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Updated guidance on the Penalties section within the What this means for an intermediary attachment.
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Further guidance has been published and changes made to the existing guidance about employment intermediaries and employment intermediaries' reports.
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Additions and changes have been made to the guidance for employment intermediary reporting from 6 April 2016.
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New guide for agents to provide links to guidance and information about how to access the service for their clients
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Contact telephone number added.
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Updated content based on user’s feedback to make things clearer, and added a link to the summary of responses from the draft regulation consultation.
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After 6 April 2015, employment intermediaries must use the template to send information about workers where they don't operate Pay As You Earn. The reporting template is now available and you can use it to provide your workers' details.
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The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations have now been published and will give HMRC information that will enable it to decrease false self-employment and abuse of offshore working.
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New guidance on reports intermediaries may have to send to HMRC for agency workers where they didn't operate PAYE has been published.
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Update to guidance following publication of draft regulations on 1 October 2014.
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First published.