The Social Security Contributions (Intermediaries) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2021

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make provision about social security contributions payable in relation to employed earner’s employment where services are provided through an intermediary to public authority clients and medium or large clients.

Regulation 1 provides for citation, commencement, effect and interpretation. Regulation 2 revokes a provision of the Social Security Contributions (Intermediaries) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2020. Regulation 3 makes the following amendments to the Social Security (Intermediaries) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/727) (“the Intermediaries Regulations”) and the Social Security (Intermediaries) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/728) (“the Northern Ireland Regulations”)—

• amends the conditions in regulation 15(1)(b) which apply for the purposes of regulation 14(1) where the intermediary is a company;

• extends the requirement in regulation 21 to confirm whether the conditions of an intermediary are met so that it applies to the intermediary where the worker has not done so;

• extends the provisions relating to fraudulent information in regulation 22 so that they apply to fraudulent information provided by any United Kingdom-based party in the labour supply chain;

• inserts new regulation 24 which provides for an anti-avoidance provision where the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of an arrangement is to gain a NICs advantage by circumventing the conditions in regulations 15 and 16 which apply where intermediaries are companies or partnerships, in order to take the engagement out of the scope of the Intermediaries Regulations or the Northern Ireland Regulations;

• makes consequential amendments to refer to these new provisions.

Regulation 4 makes a consequential amendment to Part 3AA of Schedule 4 to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/1004) which provides for the recovery of debts arising under Part 2 of the Intermediaries Regulations so that those provisions do not apply where the new anti-avoidance provision in regulation 24 of the Intermediaries Regulations or the Northern Ireland Regulations applies.

A Tax Information and Impact Note covering this instrument will be published on the website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-changes-to-make-sure-off-payroll-working-legislation-operates-as-intended.