Guidance

What this means for a worker

Updated 26 July 2019

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employment-intermediaries-reporting-requirements/what-this-means-for-a-worker

If you use an intermediary or agency to get work you are not usually considered an employee of the client or intermediary because you do not:

  • have a contract with the client
  • do any work for the intermediary

An intermediary, or any third party that has a contract with a client that results in you doing work for the client, must treat you as their employee for Income Tax and National Insurance purposes when certain conditions are met.

The intermediary is responsible for operating Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income Tax and National Insurance will be deducted from your payments where those conditions apply.

You may have to provide the intermediary with your:

  • name
  • address and postcode
  • National Insurance number or gender and date of birth
  • unique taxpayer reference (UTR) number

This allows the intermediary to complete and send legally required reports to HMRC about workers they do not operate PAYE for.

Any payments you receive for work where PAYE was operated must be treated as employment income for Income Tax and National Insurance purposes.

If you are not usually treated as an employee for the other work you do, you must keep records of the payments you received where PAYE was operated.

You must include this information on your Self Assessment return. This makes sure you receive credit for any Income Tax and National insurance deducted by the intermediary, and you only pay the correct amount due overall.

1. More information

If you have any other questions about the service:
Telephone: 03000 555 995
8:30am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday

Please read Employment status for general status and intermediaries enquiries.

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