Calls for HMRC to provide help with hybrid and distance working tax management

With hybrid and distance working becoming more commonplace, both employers and employees are having to deal with additional tax compliance issues.

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) believes that HMRC should be encouraged to do more to help people manage this by improving guidance and using technology to speed up HMRC’s decision-making so that employers can account for the correct taxes from the outset.

The CIOT found that its members have reported an increasing demand from employees in a wide range of business sectors to perform work remotely; either involving working from home (in the UK) for all or part of the time, or cross-border for varying periods of time.

As you can imagine, both scenarios can raise significant tax issues.

Colin Ben-Nathan, Chair of CIOT’s Employment Taxes Committee, commented, “It is increasingly common for employees to want to work more flexibly and to choose where they work from, whether in-country or abroad.

“But this leads to both the employer and the employee facing tax compliance headaches around where tax is due and what deductions may be available.

“We would encourage HMRC to provide more tailored guidance for employers and employees on hybrid and distance working so that they can more readily understand their tax and social security position, particularly where cross-border working is involved.”

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