London taxi reps estimate around 7,000 PHV drivers unable to renew licences due to new tax checks

Image credit: HMRC (circle)

Taxi representatives estimate around 7,000 Private Hire Vehicles (PHV) drivers have been unable to renew their licences due to new tax checks.

This year HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) introduced new tax checks that must be completed when taxi and PHV drivers renew their licences in England and Wales.

The new checks, which went live on 4 April 2022, do not include any tax calculations, but simply confirm whether a driver is registered for tax on their licensed taxi or private hire vehicle income. Drivers in Scotland and Northern Ireland will have to go through the same new licensing checks from April 2023.

HMRC revealed they are already writing to as many as 4,000 private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers in a bid to claim back unpaid tax owed.

According to the latest Transport for London (TfL) statistics, there are currently over 96,000 PHV drivers in the capital. They form part of the 330,300 licensed taxi and PHV drivers in England and Wales who ALL must go through the new licensing renewal process if they wish to stay in the industry.

Lloyd Baldwin, LTDA Executive S.O, said in TAXI Newspaper: “I understand that around 7,000 PHV drivers have not been able to renew their licence because of this new check.”