CISR51660 - Verify subcontractor: overview: update unmatched verification cases by contractor (partner/partnership or trust)

| CISR51000 | Information contents | |—————————————————————————————————–|———————-|

Where a subcontractor record cannot be found at the time of first contact by a contractor they will be treated as unmatched and a unique unmatched Verification Registration (VR) number will be allocated to the subcontractor. The effect of this will be that the contractor will be required to make a deduction at the higher rate from all payments pending successful registration of the subcontractor and issue of a CIS316B Tax Treatment Change Notification.

This action guide takes you through the steps that are required, to link an unmatched VR number with a registered partner (or trust) subcontractor CIS record, prior to the issue to the contractor of notification of a change in the subcontractor’s payment status to either Net Payment or Gross payment.

Step 1 - Authentication

Use the ‘Authentication’ process to confirm that the contact/caller is the contractor or the contractor’s appropriate representative acting on their behalf. Refer to CISR22000 for a reminder of the data items to be supplied for you to do this. Having completed the authentication process you will be in the CIS Main Menu window.

  • Select the appropriate contractor scheme name from those displayed under Schemes at the top of the page
  • Select ‘Unmatched Verification’ from the CIS Main Menu at the bottom of the page.

This will take you to the ‘Match to Registered Subcontractor’ window.

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Step 2 - verify details

  • Enter the Unmatched VR in the ‘Verification Number’ field and select the [Retrieve] button

Where the Unmatched VR number is found this will re-display the ’Match to Registered Subcontractor’ window, which should now show the contractor details displayed on the left-hand side of it. You now need to search for the subcontractor who has now registered. To do this:

  • Enter the subcontractor’s Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), Partnership UTR or Company Reference Number (CRN) in the reference field.
  • Select the reference type from the drop down menu (for example, UTR or CRN)
  • Select [Retrieve] on the right hand side of the window

If the partner’s individual UTR was entered in the UTR field on the ‘Match to Registered Subcontractor’ window, this will take you to the ‘Select Partnership’ window to enable you to select the correct partnership for which the subcontractor is acting. This is important where the subcontractor belongs to more than one partnership.

  • Select from the drop-down menu the correct partnership UTR for which the subcontractor acts for this contract.
  • Select from the drop-down menu the name of the partner for whom you wish to update the verification
  • Select from the drop-down menu the correct Partnership trading name (where there is one).
  • Select [OK]

This will now display the ‘Confirm Subcontractor’ window to confirm you have the correct subcontractor whose verification you wish to update.

  • Select [Back] if the incorrect details and you realise you made an error in the entries on the previous window.
  • Select [No Match] if the entries made on the previous window were correct but still the incorrect subcontractor details are displayed.
  • Select [OK] this will take you back to the ‘Match to Registered Subcontractor’ window

If the partnership UTR was entered in the UTR field on the ‘Match to Registered Subcontractor’ window, this will take you to the ‘Select Partner’ window to enable you to select the correct partner for which you wish to update the verification.

  • Select from the drop-down menu the UTR for the correct partner for whom you wish to update the verification
  • Select from the drop-down menu the name of the correct partner for whom you wish to update the verification
  • Select from the drop-down menu the correct NINO for the partner, or CRN where the partner is a company.
  • Select [OK]

This will now display the ‘Confirm Subcontractor’ window to confirm you have the correct subcontractor whose verification you wish to update.

  • Select [Back] if the incorrect details and you realise you made an error in the entries on the previous window.
  • Select [No Match] if the entries made on the previous window were correct but still the incorrect subcontractor details are displayed.
  • Select [OK] this will take you back to the ‘Match to Registered Subcontractor’ window

This should now display the subcontractor details on the right hand side of the window for the subcontractor you wish to update. A verification can be treated as matched to a registered subcontractor where All of the following details are confirmed:

For Partnerships:

  • Partnership UTR
  • Name or trading name of the partnership matches that held on CIS
  • The partner UTR, CRN or NINO (is for a registered partner held on CIS)
  • The Partner Name matches the name held on the CIS record for that UTR
  • The partnership record shows that the partner concerned is registered as a partner of the partnership.

Where the contractor does not know the VR number follow the instructions at CISR51710 to trace the unmatched VR number before coming back to this instruction. In all other situations where insufficient information is given by the contractor the verification should continue to be treated as unmatched /failed.

Successful match

Where the subcontractor details displayed match those now given by the contractor.:

  • Select the [Match] button.

This action will

  • link the unmatched verification period to the subcontractor record
  • result in the central issue of form CIS316B confirming
  • the payment status to be used for future payments
  • the subcontractors name/trading name and UTR held on the CIS record
  • create a Contact History Summary record.

Unsuccessful match

Where the subcontractor details displayed do not match those now given by the contractor you should check that you have correctly entered the Verification Number on the left-hand side of the window.

  • Verify the verification number with the caller
  • Select the [No Match] button.
  • Tell the contractor that until advised otherwise deductions should continue at the higher rate.
  • Advise the contractor to tell the subcontractor to check that their details are correct or that they should contact HMRC as a matter of urgency in order to complete the registration process.

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Step 3 - closing stages

Whether or not the verification number is matched with a CIS subcontractor record you will receive a ‘Would you like to match another?’ message

Either

  • Tick the message box if the contractor has further cases to be dealt with.

This will take you back to the ‘Match to Registered Subcontractor’ window to enter further details

Or

  • Leave the tick box blank.

This will display the message ‘Written confirmation requested?’

  • Tick the box if the contractor has specifically requested written confirmation of the subcontractor’s payment status on form CIS316B.

Or

  • Leave the tick box as blank.

Whichever is chosen you should close the activity by selecting the [OK] button to return to the CIS Main Menu window.

The Contact History Summary record will be updated with details of the contact.

This process will be repeated for each case. The new VR number will cover that contact and all the other subcontractors for which registration details are now held. Any new unmatched subcontractors will be allocated an unmatched VR unique to that subcontractor and contact. Existing and still unmatched VR number cases will retain their original VR number and Payment status.

Note: It will not be possible to match an ‘unmatched verification’ to a subcontractor where a ‘matched’ verification number already exists for the subcontractor under that same unmatched verification number. When an attempt is made to do this a new window entitled ‘Verification number previously matched’ will display with the following error message ‘A matched verification under this verification number already exists for the subcontractor and scheme’.