CISR90060 - View Customer and Record Contact: contractor Scheme Agent Details

General

Having followed the steps listed at CISR90020 to gain access to view a contractor scheme, and then selected View Customer from the CIS Main Menu, the next window visible will be the ‘Scheme Details’ window. From this window you should select the [Agent Details] tab at the top of the window.

Authorised Agents

Under CIS there are two types of authorised agent for contractors and subcontractors. They are Customer Level agents and Scheme Specific Agents.

Customer Level Agents and Scheme Specific Agents

In brief, a Customer Level Agent is an agent that acts for a contractor or subcontractor in connection with their COTAX or SA tax affairs and who then also deals with that customer’s CIS affairs. A Scheme Specific Agent is one that acts only for a contractor in connection with a specific CIS scheme or schemes including verification of subcontractors and submitting monthly returns for that scheme.

If the parent system (SA or COTAX) holds an authority (64-8 New) for an agent to act, that agent will automatically flow over to CIS provided that the indicator within CIS ‘Inherit Agent’ has not been set to ‘No’. The indicator will be set to ‘No’ if the contractor contacts HMRC to advise that this agent is not acting in respect of their CIS affairs. To action such a request you will need to select the function Update Customer from the Main Menu. The Action Guide at CISR31610 outlines the process.

A Customer Level Agent will not receive scheme output (such as monthly returns) unless the contractor specifically requests this either in writing or by telephoning HMRC. If such a request is made you will need to select the function ‘Update Customer’ from the CIS Main Menu and set the indicator ‘Allow Scheme Output to Agent’ to ‘Yes’. The Action Guide at CISR31610 outlines this process.

You should refer to CISR19000 for more in-depth information on the two different types of agent and the varying levels of ‘authority’ each holds.

Scheme Agent Details window

The window that will next appear will depend on whether the record relates to a Customer Level Agent or a Scheme Specific Agent.

For a customer Level Agent the following information is provided

  • Agent’s name
  • Agent’s address including postcode
  • Agent’s telephone number
  • Client’s reference number
  • Where the agent is a Scheme Specific agent, in addition to the above, there are further entries to state whether the agent is:
  • Internet enabled. If this is the case the Internet Agent Reference number will be shown
  • Only authorised for paper transactions
  • Authorised to receive scheme output.