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The Countryside Alliance has received numerous questions regarding the introduction of RTI (Real Time Information) and how this affects paying casual labour such as beaters. RTI is a system introduced by HMRC to capture all relevant payroll information each time an employee or worker is paid for their services. From April 2013, employers will be legally required to report PAYE in real time. This means that information about all PAYE payments needs to be submitted to HMRC online each time a payment is made as part of the payroll process, rather than at the end of the year as they are now. HMRC has confirmed that they are moving away from previously established procedures for casual workers to simply focus on whether someone has been paid or not. The onus is on the employer to comply with this system and there will be penalties for failure to do so. Currently HMRC will not give comment specific to the shooting industry; they just say that RTI is applicable to casual workers. However, we have been consulting with our advisors and the following information will hopefully be of use to those who have questions on this topic. Hopefully in time we will be able to get a clearer picture on this issue. • This forces the issue of deciding whether someone should be classified as employed or self-employed. If they are paid through RTI this indicates that they are an employee and if they are not then the implication is that they are self-employed. • As before the introduction of RTI; this will come down to a question and interpretation of fact. If an ‘employer’ is making any payment to a worker, this must be reported via RTI unless the ‘employer’ has satisfied themselves that the individual is self-employed. This will come down to whether they feel able to justify and demonstrate this to HMRC if questions were asked • In the shooting industry it is common for some of the participants to be regarded as self-employed i.e. the gamekeeper or the pickers up and there are established ways in which this is demonstrated. However, this is rarely the case for beaters. • For RTI, payments to these beaters should be recorded and reported before the payment is made. This will also be the case if many benefits-in-kind are received by the individuals (a Christmas party, a free shoot day or lunch for example). • It is all about what you would feel happy demonstrating to HMRC. For increased certainty, both the shoot and the individual should take steps to ensure that there is documentary or other evidence to support the position that you take. • For completeness, if a beater attends the shoot on an ad-hoc basis as a volunteer and there is clearly and demonstrably no intention to pay the beater or reward him in any way then there will be nothing to report under RTI and there is no employment relationship. Inviting the same individual as a guest to shoot with you later in the season should be regarded as a separate matter as not provided under a contractual or implied relationship between employer and employee. • The problem would come if this practice was adopted for every beater and on a regular basis; again it is about the factual picture building up that HMRC could argue amounted to a benefit in kind ad indicated an employer/employee relationship. If a pattern emerges then you must be able to demonstrate clearly that this should not amount employment. The Countryside Alliance will continue to monitor this situation and update accordingly. More information can be found on the HMRC website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rti/index.htm