IEIM904400 - Who has to Report

All Reporting Platform Operators (RPOs) have a prima facie reporting obligation under the regulations. Only Platform Operators (POs) which meet the definition to be an Excluded Platform Operator do not have this obligation. However, RPOs may be able to benefit from an exemption, if there is another PO in relation to that Platform, and that other PO reports the information that would have been reportable by the first RPO, either to HMRC, or to the tax authority of a partner jurisdiction under substantially similar rules. The model rules and commentary refer to this as ‘Assumed Reporting’.

In practice, this is something that the POs will need to agree between themselves. Because the POs are operating in relation to the same Platform, it is expected that they will already have ties to one another. For example, they could be part of the same corporate group, and/or have contractual ties to one another. It should therefore normally be possible to agree which RPO will report the required information to the tax authorities. Where an RPO is not reporting because another PO has assumed the reporting obligation and will report on its behalf, the first RPO must notify HMRC of this on the online service, and provide HMRC with information about that other PO, including its name, address, a Tax Identification Number (TIN), and the jurisdiction in which the other PO will be reporting. It must do this by 31 January of the year following the Reportable Period. The notification must be made each year. If the notification is not made, the RPO will not be able to rely on the exemption from reporting.

Where one PO reports on behalf of one or more other POs, this agreement should be properly documented, so that the non-reporting RPO can satisfy itself that it meets the requirements to be exempted. This should include the necessary analysis to confirm that the same information that would have been reportable by the non-reporting RPO will in fact be reported by the reporting PO. Particular care should be taken where the Platform is available to Sellers in multiple jurisdictions and the POs are in different jurisdictions to ensure that the countries’ lists of partner jurisdictions, and therefore the lists of Reportable Sellers are consistent.

HMRC will provide a list of partner jurisdictions. An RPO will only be able to rely on an exemption from reporting if the other PO is reporting the information either to HMRC or to the tax authorities in a partner jurisdiction.

Where a Platform is operated by a partnership, each partner is strictly speaking an RPO. However, in practice, the partners can agree between themselves that one of the partners will report on behalf of all of them. This ‘nominated partner’ will effectively act as an RPO on behalf of the other partners in the partnership and will be responsible for reporting and the other requirements in the reporting rules. The other partners can then be exempted from reporting in the same way described above.

Where a PO who had assumed the reporting obligation for another RPO does in fact not submit the required information, HMRC will investigate the failure of the reporting PO, if it is UK resident, and may charge penalties accordingly. In addition, HMRC may investigate whether the non-reporting RPO was in fact eligible to be exempted from reporting, if it could not reasonably have believed that the other PO was in fact going to report the information that the RPO was required to report. This would be considered a failure to report on the part of the non-reporting RPO, as they could not rely on the reporting exemption, and penalties may apply.