IEIM901515 - At the request of a user

The reference in the definition of a ‘personal service’ to providing a service ‘at the request of a user’ means that if a user (or a group of users) has not requested or invited the Seller to perform a service it is not a ‘personal’ service. For example, giving access to pre-recorded non-customised digital content (such as music, videos, podcasts etc.) which is available to the public or subscribers in general rather than at the request of a specific user is not considered to be a ‘personal service’.

Likewise, the provision of a public transport service which is operated to a set timetable rather than when a customer requests it is not a personal service. However, if the transport service is for the exclusive use of the user (and their guests) then it is likely to be caught by the definition. For example, buying tickets on a scheduled coach service via a Platform would not be in scope, even if one user were to buy all the tickets on that service. However, if the user instead hired a coach via a Platform, to take them and their guests to the destination of their choice, that would be in scope, as without the user there would have been no journey.

The reference to ‘at the request of a user’ also implies that a personal service must in some way be personalised or adapted to the needs of the user. For example, the provision of a bespoke online learning tailored to a specific user would be a personal service, but the provision of an online course which is the same irrespective of the user would not be a personal service.

The key test is whether the service is capable of being personalised, so Platform Operators (POs) do not have to monitor the extent to which a service is modified or personalised in each case. The fact that it can be personalised at the request of a user is sufficient. For example, a guided tour may have a standard route which a tour guide might adapt depending on the preferences of the customers. The Platform which facilitates the booking of the tour may not know whether any particular tour follows the standard route or is adapted, but it is sufficient that the tours are capable of being adapted which means that they are personal services.

When deciding on whether a service is in scope, to avoid the need to consider each service individually, Platforms may assume that any time or task-based service qualifies as a ‘personal service’. This assumption can then be overridden if the Platform can confirm that the service cannot in fact be adapted to an individual user and therefore is not within the scope of reporting.

There may be circumstances in which only certain elements of the service qualify as a ‘personal service’, but it is difficult to separate these elements from the wider service. In that case, the whole service should be reported, unless the personal service element is purely ancillary to the non-reportable element of the service.

Where Sellers provide different types of personal services on a Platform, it may not always be possible for the PO to reasonably determine whether any particular service is capable of being personalised. In these circumstances, the PO should consider all services to be relevant services and report accordingly. HMRC would not consider such a report to be inaccurate, even if it were subsequently discovered that some of the services provided by Sellers were in fact not in scope.

A service is not a ‘personal service’ if a Seller provides a service under an employment contract with a PO (or related entity). Whether the Seller is providing a service as an employee of the PO (or a related entity) has to be determined on the facts and the relevant employment law in the UK.