New taxi & PHV licence applicants WILL NOT be subjected to new HMRC Tax Checks
New taxi and private hire licence applicants will not be subjected to Taxi Tax Checks made by the HMRC which are due to be introduced in April 2022.
HMRC have confirmed that only those drivers and operators applying for licence renewals will be required to complete a Tax Check before being issued a licence.
The decision to allow new applicants the opportunity to bypass the checks has raised some concerns from industry insiders.
One of the main concerns was if a driver or operator who had previously failed to register themselves to pay tax, would be able to obtain a "new licence" by switching licensing authorities. This concern was quickly shut down by HMRC, who said the checks would cross reference all licensing authorities and if an applicant had held a licence anywhere within the last 12 months it would show up on the checks.
But what constitutes a "new applicant?" Well basically anyone who hasn't held a licence in the last 12 months, but this in itself could create an issue if HMRC are trying to "find the hidden" as they stated in a recent meeting attended by TaxiPoint.
For a driver or applicant who hasn't been tax registered in the past but had been operating, they could simply choose to take a year out of the industry before returning as a new driver in an attempt to remain undetected.
And if you think, "surely someone would not go a whole year without working in the industry?" It might be worth considering that if a licence holder hadn't paid tax but had earned for 10 years in the industry, would they rather risk having to back-pay tax for all those years? Or take a year out and re-join the industry as a new licence holder and remain off the radar? Yes exactly, that's what the concerns are.
