ESM2085 | Employment Intermediary Reporting: Meaning of Employment Intermediary

Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2015

Regulation 716B (2) Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003

To be a “Specified Employment Intermediary” with an obligation to file a return, the person must first be an employment intermediary.

An employment intermediary is defined in the legislation as being:

A person who makes arrangements under or in consequence of which:

1. an individual works or is to work for a third person or

2. an individual is, or is to be, remunerated for work done for a third party.

In practice, any person or business who supplies more than one worker [per 84E(b) Income Tax (PAYE) Regulations 2003] to work for the end client - is caught by the reporting requirements of the agency legislation if they are not operating PAYE/RTI on the payments made to the workers. They will therefore be required to make an information return of the workers details and associated payments to HMRC.

Specified intermediaries can range from large organisations to small enterprises and individuals, where workers are supplied to the end client. This applies across all sectors of the labour market.