Reporting rules for digital platforms
Check the reporting rules 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 Reporting Rules for Digital Platforms. 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 need to report to HMRC, you’ll need to use the digital platform reporting service.
The service is currently unavailable for you to register. We’ll update this page when it’s live.
What qualifies as a digital platform
Your app or website is a platform if both these apply:
- it connects sellers to customers to supply goods or services
- you know or can easily find out the amount paid to sellers for goods or services
Examples of services include:
- taxi and private hire
- food delivery
- finding freelance work
- letting of short-term accommodation
These rules do not apply if you only:
- sell on a platform
- manage a platform as a sole trader
- sell your goods or services directly through your own website or app
If you’re a seller, you can find out how the reporting rules affect selling goods or services on a digital platform.
Who needs to report
You will need to report information to HMRC if you’re a reporting platform operator. This includes any platform operator, except an excluded operator, where one of the following applies:
- you reside in the UK
- you are managed under UK laws
- you have a place of management in the UK
An excluded platform operator is one whose entire business model either:
- does not allow sellers to profit from received payments
- has no reportable sellers
You’ll need to use the digital platform reporting service to tell HMRC if you’re:
- a reporting platform operator
- an excluded platform operator
You do not need to tell HMRC if these rules do not apply.
You may have to pay a penalty if you do not tell HMRC by the deadline.
Who needs reporting
You will need to report on reportable sellers. These are sellers that both:
- live in the UK or another country following the rules
- actively supply or are paid for goods or services on the platform
You do not need to report on certain categories of low risk sellers if they are:
- entity sellers (like a company) with more than 2,000 property rentals per year on the platform
- government entity sellers
- entity sellers, or related to entities, whose shares are traded regularly on a stock exchange
- sellers making fewer than 30 sales of goods, and receiving less than 2,000 euros (approximately £1,700) for those sales in a year
Read the technical HMRC guidance for details.
What you need to collect
As a reporting platform operator, 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
For individual sellers
You’ll need their:
- full name
- main 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 entity sellers (such as companies)
You’ll 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.
This is to make sure HMRC and other tax authorities can identify the seller (or rental property).
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.
You’ll need to tell HMRC using the online reporting service if you want to do this.
Extended time limits for due diligence on 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. These sellers must 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.
You’ll need to use the online reporting service to tell HMRC if you will use the extended time limits for due diligence on existing sellers.
When to report
You must submit your report to HMRC by 31 January for the previous reporting year.
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 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.
You may have to pay a penalty if you do not report by the deadline.
What to report
You need to report all information that you collect (read ‘What you need to collect’).
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 to the seller, give the name of the account holder and other identifying details about them, like address and date of birth.
How to submit a report
The service is currently unavailable for you to register. We’ll update this page when it’s live.
You’ll need to register to use the online service to submit a report.
After you’ve registered, you’ll need to upload an XML file to the service to report seller information. An XML is a file format like PDF, CSV, or TXT. This is a digital file format for electronic reporting and exchanging information between tax authorities.
Download the latest digital platform reporting XML schema.
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 yearly 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 read:
- detailed HMRC guidance at ‘Reporting rules for digital platforms guidance’ in the HMRC internal manual
- about 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
Updates to this page
Published 1 August 2024Last updated 24 October 2024 + show all updates
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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.