Guidance

Penalties for digital Platform Operators — CC/FS98

Published 16 October 2026

This factsheet explains the penalties we may charge digital Platform Operators in the UK if they don’t meet their reporting obligations. We can charge these penalties under the Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 (as amended).

If you’re in the UK and run a digital platform, you may need to register with HMRC. You’ll then need to report information to us about sellers on the platform and provide the same information to those sellers.

Your app or website is a digital platform if:

• it connects sellers to customers to supply goods or services, either directly on the platform, or indirectly by using third-party sellers of goods or services
• you hold or can easily calculate the amount paid to sellers for goods or services, or you can find out the amount from a third party

To check if you need to register and what your reporting obligations are, go to GOV.UK and search:

• ‘check if you need to register as a digital Platform Operator’
• ‘reporting sellers to HMRC if you’re a digital Platform Operator’

This factsheet is one of a series. For the full list go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC compliance checks factsheets’.

Penalties if you fail to meet an obligation

We may charge a penalty of up to £5,000 if you don’t:

• file a report with us by 31 January following each calendar year
• provide information to reportable sellers by 31 January following each calendar year
• provide any information we’ve reasonably required in a written notice, by the deadline we’ve given you

We may charge a penalty for each of these obligations you don’t meet. This means we can charge more than one penalty in a reporting period. We’ll only charge you one penalty for each obligation you don’t meet.

If you still haven’t met the obligation 30 days after we charged the first penalty, we can charge you further penalties of up to £600 each day until you comply.

We won’t charge you a penalty if you have a reasonable excuse for not meeting these obligations.

Penalties if you make an inaccurate or incomplete report

We may charge you a penalty of up to £100 for each seller you report inaccurate or incomplete information for, and where (any of the following):

• the inaccuracy or incompleteness is deliberate
• the inaccuracy or incompleteness is because you didn’t take reasonable care
• you discover the inaccuracy or incompleteness later but don’t take reasonable steps to tell us

How we work out the penalty amount

We’ll consider various factors when deciding the penalty to charge you for inaccurate or incomplete reports. These include:

• the behaviour that led to the inaccuracy or incompleteness
• whether you correct the inaccuracy or incompleteness quickly
• how much you co-operate in resolving the inaccuracy
• whether you tell us about the inaccuracy or incompleteness
• how significant the inaccuracy or incompleteness is
• whether you give us the information we ask for

Other penalties we may charge

We may also charge you a penalty if you don’t:

• keep the records we require — the penalty will be up to £5,000
• tell us you’re a reporting or an excluded Platform Operator — the penalty will be up to £1,000
• follow the due diligence procedures in the regulations — the penalty will be up to £100 for each seller and we’ll decide the amount using the same factors as above

We won’t charge you a penalty if you have a reasonable excuse for not meeting these obligations.

If you’re liable to more than one penalty

We’ll only charge you one penalty if you fail to meet more than one of the following obligations.

Your obligations are to:

• keep the records we require
• follow due diligence procedures
• give us accurate or complete reports

When we’re considering penalties, we’ll charge the penalty we believe is most appropriate.

How we’ll tell you about a penalty

If we’ve decided to charge you a penalty, we’ll write to you. We’ll tell you how much the penalty is and how we’ve worked it out. If you don’t agree, please contact us straightaway. You should tell us if you think we haven’t considered some important information before charging you the penalty. We’ll look at everything you tell us.

If we still think you haven’t met your obligations, we’ll send you a penalty assessment notice. If you don’t agree with the penalty assessment notice, you can appeal. The notice will tell you how.

Your rights if we’re considering charging penalties

The European Convention on Human Rights gives you certain important rights. If we’re considering penalties, we’ll tell you. We’ll also tell you these rights apply and ask you to confirm that you understand them. You have the right to:

• not answer questions we may ask you to help us decide whether to charge you a penalty
• choose how much you help us when we’re considering charging penalties
• get advice from a professional adviser when deciding whether to answer our questions
• appeal if you disagree with any penalties we’ve charged you
• apply for funded legal assistance for dealing with an appeal against certain penalties
• have penalty matters dealt with without unreasonable delay

You can find full details about these rights in our factsheet CC/FS9, ‘The Human Rights Act and penalties’. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘CC/FS9’.

If you deliberately give us false information

We may carry out a criminal investigation and prosecute you. We can do this whether you give us the information verbally, in writing or in a document.

More Information

Our privacy notice

Our privacy notice sets out the standards that you can expect from us when we ask for information or hold information about you. To read this, go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC Privacy Notice’.

If you’re not happy with our service

Please tell the person or office you’ve been dealing with. They’ll try to put things right. If you’re still not happy, they’ll tell you how to make a formal complaint.