Government postpones plans to introduce mandatory tax registration checks for taxi and private hire

The Government has postponed plans to introduce mandatory tax registration checks for taxi and private hire drivers. Stephen McCaffrey, a regulatory defence barrister specialising in taxi and private hire licensing, previously reported on plans by the HMRC to introduce mandatory tax registration checks for all taxi and private hire licence holders and applicants. The Government initially said it would be introducing legislation in the Finance Bill 2019 to effectively bring tax registration requirements within scope of “fit and proper”. It has now been announced that the legislation required to introduce the mandatory checks will be postponed until 2020. “Tackling the hidden economy through public sector licensing (conditionality)” will be introduced in the Finance Bill 2020 that will come into force either in April 2020 or October.

Image: TaxiPoint