United KingdomGOV.UK
HMRC says platform sellers must be reported in both relevant periods
When activity and payment fall in different periods, both trigger seller reporting; consideration belongs in the period when it is paid or credited.
By Taxxa AI OyPublished 31 July 2026
Reporting platform operators should report a seller in both Reportable Periods when the Relevant Activity and payment of Consideration fall in different periods, according to HMRC’s revised guidance. The earlier wording said to report the seller in the first period. HMRC now also expressly addresses deposits and balances paid across separate periods.
The test for identifying a relevant period has two alternatives: the seller carried out a Relevant Activity during it, or was paid or credited Consideration relating to a Relevant Activity during itGOV. Booking time is not relevant. A credit to the seller’s account on the platform is sufficient; the money does not have to reach the seller’s bank account before it counts.
HMRC’s first example concerns a seller who carries out an activity in December 2026 and receives payment or credit in January 2027. The seller is reportable in 2026 for providing the activity and in 2027 for the payment. The Consideration must be reported for the period in which it was paid or credited, so reporting the seller for the activity does not move the payment into that earlier periodGOV.
The reverse sequence also produces reporting in both periods. Where Consideration is paid in December 2026 but the activity is performed in January 2027, HMRC says the seller is reportable in 2026 for the payment and in 2027 for providing the activity. The first event therefore does not exhaust the seller’s reporting across the two periods.
For split payments, such as a deposit in one Reportable Period and the balance in the next, the seller should be reported in both periods with the amount of Consideration paid or credited in eachGOV. Operators should distinguish reporting the seller in each relevant period from allocating the payment amounts between those periods.
These examples use December 2026 and January 2027 to illustrate the timing rule; the guidance does not identify those dates as a new commencement date. The practical change is to revisit reporting logic that selects only the first period when activity and payment straddle periods.
Regulation 4 (Reporting of Information) of the Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 requires reports to HMRC for each reportable period.
Review seller-reporting logic so that activity and payment in different periods trigger reporting in both, with consideration allocated to the period paid or credited.