Check if you need to carry out digital platform reporting
Check if you need to tell HMRC if you’re in the UK and run a digital platform that lets users sell goods or services.
The UK is signed up to the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) model rules for reporting by platform operators. The reporting rules started in the UK from 1 January 2024.
If you manage or work within a digital platform in the UK, you may need to:
- collect and check information about sellers on the platform
- report details about sellers to HMRC
If you’re a seller, you can find out how the reporting rules affect selling goods or services on a digital platform.
What qualifies as a digital platform
Your app or website is a digital platform under the reporting rules if both the following apply:
- it connects sellers to customers to supply goods or services (for example, taxi hire, food delivery, finding freelance work and letting short-term accommodation)
- you know or can easily find out the amount paid to sellers for goods or services
Examples of a digital platform under the rules include:
- an online marketplace allowing users to buy and sell clothes
- a rental accommodation website allowing guest payments and which connects them to accommodation owners
Examples that are not a digital platform under the rules include:
- a website or app which only lists or advertises products to sell
- a website or app that only redirects or transfers users to another website
- software that only processes payments
- software that only helps design and maintain websites
Who should register
You will need to register with HMRC if you operate a qualifying digital platform, and one of the following applies:
- you reside in the UK
- you are managed under UK laws
- your business is managed in the UK
You do not need to register if you only:
- sell on a platform
- manage a platform as a sole trader
- sell your own goods or services directly through your own website or app
You will need to tell HMRC if you are:
- a reporting platform operator and will report
- an excluded platform operator and will not report
An excluded platform operator is one whose entire business model either:
- does not allow sellers to profit from received payments
- has no reportable sellers
Reportable sellers are those who both:
- actively supply or are paid for goods or services on the platform
- live in the UK or another country following the rules (Reportable Jurisdictions)
Find out about Reportable Jurisdictions.
A third-party, such as an agent, can register and report on your behalf.
How to register
Find out how to register to carry out digital platform reporting.
What you need to report
As a reporting platform operator, you need to tell HMRC about reportable sellers.
You do not need to report on:
- entities such as companies, partnerships, trusts or charities with more than 2,000 property rentals per year on the platform
- entities such as companies, partnerships, trusts or charities, or entities related to these, whose shares are traded regularly on a stock exchange
- sellers owned by a government
- sellers making fewer than 30 sales of goods, and receiving less than 2,000 euros (approximately £1,700) for those sales in a year
Information you need for reporting
You will need to:
- collect information about sellers on your platform
- collect information about any property listed on your platform (if applicable)
- verify the information collected (known as ‘due diligence’)
- identify reportable sellers
- report information to HMRC
For individual sellers
You need their:
- full name
- home address
- date of birth
- tax identification number (National Insurance number if they live in the UK)
You also need to know the country which issued their tax identification number.
For entities such as companies, partnerships, trusts or charities
You need their:
- legal business name
- main business address
- tax identification number (company registration number for a UK company)
You also need to know the country which issued their tax identification number.
If the seller is a UK partnership, you’ll need their partnership Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) — a reference number from HMRC.
You also need to report the following if available to you:
- any other tax identification number (like a VAT number) and where it was issued
- the country the seller lives in
- the total amount paid to the seller for the reporting year
- the number of transactions the seller received payment for
- any fees, commissions, or taxes you have withheld or charged
- bank account details to which amounts were paid
If the account details are different from the seller’s details, give the name of the account holder and other identifying details about them, like address and date of birth.
Carrying out due diligence
It’s your responsibility to make sure due diligence is done correctly, even if you use a third-party.
Due diligence for active sellers only
You can choose to carry out due diligence on active sellers only. Active sellers are those that supply or are paid for goods or services during the reportable period, which runs from 1 January to 31 December.
If you do this, you’ll need to add a reporting notification in the online reporting service to tell HMRC.
Extended time limits for due diligence on pre-existing sellers
When you first become a reporting platform operator, you have until the end of the second year to complete due diligence for pre-existing sellers, who are those who have been registered on your platform before you had to start reporting.
This gives you an extra year to collect and verify information for pre-existing sellers.
If you do this, you’ll need to add a reporting notification in the online reporting service to tell HMRC.
For example, if a platform operator becomes subject to the reporting rules on 1 July 2024, its first reportable period is 2024.
The date by which it must complete due diligence is:
- 31 December 2024 for sellers who registered on or after 1 July 2024
- 31 December 2025 for sellers who registered before 1 July 2024
You may have to pay a penalty if you do not complete due diligence by the deadline.
When to report
The reporting rules started in the UK from 1 January 2024.
You must submit your report successfully to HMRC by 11:59pm on 31 January for the previous reporting period using the online reporting service. For example, you need to collect information for the year 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 and report it by 31 January 2025.
You must use the digital platform reporting XML schema and supporting documents to create your report for submission.
Large XML files may take up to 2 days to be checked after submission. Your report needs to pass our checks by 11:59pm on 31 January to be considered a successful submission, otherwise you may be charged a penalty for late reporting.
You also need to give a copy of any reported information to the seller by this deadline. This will help them if they have to fill in a tax return.
Penalties
If you do not follow the rules, you may be charged 3 types of penalty:
- a penalty of up to £1,000 for not telling HMRC if you’re a reporting platform operator or excluded platform operator
- an initial penalty of up to £5,000 and a continuing penalty of up to £600 per day for not reporting by the 31 January reporting deadline
- a penalty of up to £100 for each inaccurate, incomplete, or unverified seller’s record
If sellers do not cooperate, you may want to consider actions such as:
- limiting their access until you collect the information
- stopping them registering on your platform
Get more information
You can find out more about:
- reporting rules for digital platforms at IEIM900000 in the HMRC International Exchange of Information Manual
- the OECD rules at ‘Model rules for reporting by platform operators with respect to sellers in the sharing and gig economy’ on the OECD website
- sellers you do not need to report on
- what is not a platform
Updates to this page
Published 1 August 2024Last updated 30 December 2024 + show all updates
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Links have been added to register for the digital platform reporting service, submit reports and manage user details.
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The link to download the latest digital platform reporting XML schema in 'How to submit a report' has been updated.
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First published.