Do job apps and online platforms report my earnings to HMRC?

Yes, many do. Since 1 January 2024, UK rules have required apps and websites that connect sellers with customers, including for services, to report sellers' details and earnings to HMRC each year by 31 January.

The rules are the Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023, the UK's version of model rules agreed through the OECD. HMRC's manual says they are meant to help sellers get their tax right and to help tax authorities identify and tackle cases of non-compliance. This page follows GOV.UK and the HMRC manual as checked on 17 October 2026.

What is covered

HMRC's manual lists four kinds of "relevant activity". A platform that connects sellers with customers for any of them, and holds or can easily work out what sellers are paid, may have to report.

In our reading, a trades job booked through an app or website, such as a repair, a fitting or a day's labouring, sits in the personal services row. HMRC's operator guidance also says the customer does not have to pay through the platform: a platform can be covered if it knows the amount of a booked job, even when the customer pays the seller directly. In our reading, a site that only passes on leads and never knows the price may not be covered. Whether a particular app reports is for that app to work out, and its terms or help pages may say.

What the platform reports

For an individual seller, HMRC's manual lists:

• your full name, main address and date of birth
• your tax identification number, which in the UK is your National Insurance number
• the total you were paid or credited in the year, broken down by quarter
• the number of jobs or sales that pay relates to
• any fees, commission or taxes the platform took
• your bank account details, where the platform has them (HMRC has said it wants these for UK sellers)

Reports cover the calendar year. The first period was 1 January to 31 December 2024, reported by 31 January 2025, and each year since follows the same pattern. The platform must also give you a copy of what it sent, by the same 31 January deadline.

Not a new tax

GOV.UK says a platform reporting your details does not automatically mean you owe tax. The tax rules themselves have not changed: as a sole trader you were always meant to declare your trading income, whether it came by app, bank transfer or cash.

The trading allowance still applies. Up to £1,000 a year of trading income is tax free. If your gross trading income is over £1,000, you register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the end of the tax year.

For Making Tax Digital (MTD), qualifying income is your total self-employment and property income before expenses. GOV.UK does not single out platform income, but in our reading app-booked jobs are self-employment income like any other, so they count towards the MTD threshold alongside your bank and cash takings.

What this means for you

If your jobs all go through your own records and your tax return already includes them, a platform report changes nothing for you. It is a second copy of figures you already have. Where it helps is as a cross-check: compare the platform's copy with your own records and look into any gap.

If you find income you did not declare, GOV.UK says to tell HMRC as soon as possible, and that if you contact HMRC first it may consider your case more favourably. HMRC's disclosure guide adds that penalties will usually be lower if you tell HMRC yourself. Our guide to compliance checks covers what happens if HMRC writes first.

Steps to take

1. Give each platform the details it asks for. They need them to meet their own duties.
2. Keep the copy each platform sends you after the end of each calendar year.
3. Record every platform job in your own books as it happens, the same as any other job, including what the customer paid and the platform's fees.
4. At the end of the tax year (5 April), add up platform, bank and cash income for your total takings. Do not rely on the calendar-year report alone.
5. Compare the platform's figures with your records and look into any difference.
6. If your gross trading income is over £1,000 and you are not registered, register as a sole trader.
7. If past years are missing income, put it right: amend a return if you are within 12 months of its 31 January filing deadline. Otherwise you can use HMRC's digital disclosure service: tell HMRC you want to make a disclosure, then send the disclosure and payment within 90 days of HMRC acknowledging your notification.
8. Check where your total takings leave you on MTD with the free MTD check.

The trades section has more guides on records, cash jobs and the trading allowance.

This is general information to help you understand the rules. It isn't tailored to your circumstances, so check your own position before acting on it.