Uber workers’ rights ruling ‘did not involve the income tax status’ confirms HMRC

Uber workers’ rights ruling ‘concerned eligibility for certain rights as a worker and did not involve the income tax status of taxi drivers’ says HMRC.

The news comes as worried Uber drivers grew concerned they may have lost eligibility for forthcoming Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grants and questioned whether they may even have to PAY BACK grants already claimed following their recent workers’ rights victory at the Supreme Court.

At a landmark Court ruling last month Uber drivers were provided basic workers’ rights, which included minimum wage and holiday pay, which prompted some private hire drivers to worry for their past and present self-employed status.

HMRC have however confirmed that the ruling does not concern tax status and is ‘unlikely’ to impact on eligibility for private hire drivers on the Uber platform.

According to a HMRC spokesperson talking directly to TaxiPoint: “The Uber case concerned eligibility for certain rights as a worker and did not involve the income tax status of taxi drivers.

“As it did not concern tax status, the case is unlikely to have a direct impact on tax or SEISS eligibility for taxi drivers.

“HMRC cannot comment on the tax affairs of individual taxpayers.”

HMRC added: “If an individual has already claimed one (or more) of the first three SEISS grants - and met the eligibility criteria at the time they made their claim - then they can keep the grant(s). This is irrespective of whether their employment status retrospectively changes for those periods."

Sources at HMRC also detailed the eligibility criteria for the forthcoming fourth SEISS grant. A self-employed individual must meet all of the eligibility criteria detailed below:

• You must be a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership

• Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income for the 2019 to 2020 tax year

• If you’re not eligible based on your 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment tax return, we’ll also look at the tax years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019 as well as 2019 to 2020.

• You must have traded in both tax years – 2019 to 2020 (and submitted your tax return by 2 March 2021), and 2020 to 2021

• You must either be currently trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus, or have been trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus

• You must also declare that you intend to continue to trade, and that you reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits due to reduced business activity, capacity, demand or inability to trade due to coronavirus.

If a claimant’s contract for services has been replaced by a contract of employment, this may affect their eligibility for the fourth and fifth SEISS grants if:

• the change means they have permanently ceased trading

• in the relevant tax years (2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020, their trading profits were not at least equal to their non-trading income.

Finally HMRC added: “It is for the claimant to consider whether they meet the eligibility criteria for SEISS. Whether they are self-employed for tax purposes will depend on the terms of their contract of engagement.”