Citation, commencement and effect

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2012 and come into force on 9th August 2012.

(2) These Regulations have effect in relation to relevant payments made on and after 1st September 2012.

(3) In paragraph (2), “relevant payments” has the meaning given in regulation 4 of the Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003(4).

Amendment of the Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003

2.  The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003 are amended by the insertion after regulation 67C of the following—

“Notifications of relevant payments to and by providers of certain electronic payment methods

67CA.—(1) A Real Time Information employer who makes a relevant payment using an approved method of electronic communications which falls to be included in a return under regulation 67B must—

(a)generate a reference under paragraph (3) and include it in that return,

(b)notify the service provider that the payment is a relevant payment, and

(c)generate a sub-reference under paragraph (3) in respect of the relevant payment and notify the service provider of that sub-reference.

(2) A service provider who receives a notification under paragraph (1)(b) must notify HMRC of the information it holds that is required for generating a reference under paragraph (3) in relation to the relevant payment.

(3) A reference and sub-reference under this paragraph is to be generated using the method specified by the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in a direction.

(4) In paragraphs (1) and (2), “service provider” means the provider of the approved method of electronic communications using which the payment is made.

(5) For the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (4), an “approved method of electronic communications” is any method of electronic communications which has been approved for the purposes of regulation 199 (large employers required to make specified payments electronically).

(6) A direction under paragraph (3) may also—

(a)specify circumstances in which paragraphs (1) and (2) are not to apply, and

(b)specify the form and manner of the notifications required by paragraphs (1)(b) and (c) and (2).”.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (“the 2012 Regulations”) amended the Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003 to make provision for the changes being made to the Pay As You Earn system by the Real Time Information programme and, in particular, inserted new regulation 67B. This requires employers to report pay and tax information to HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) each time a relevant payment is made to an employee.

These Regulations require certain employers to include a reference in a return under regulation 67B. They also require the providers of certain electronic payment services to provide information relevant to the creation of that reference to HMRC.

These Regulations also provide for the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to make directions specifying details about how this process will work and excluding specified employers from the new obligations.

A Tax Information and Impact Note covering this instrument was published on 15th March 2012 alongside the 2012 Regulations and is available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/thelibrary/tiins.htm. It remains an accurate summary of the impacts that apply to this instrument.