U.K. Mulls Withholding Taxes to Deal With Risks of Gig Economy

The U.K. is mulling the use of withholding taxes to reduce the risk of tax-filing errors or under-reporting by self-employed individuals.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs said Monday it is “exploring the scope for greater use of withholding, which is already a core feature of the U.K. tax system.” The decision comes in response to a set of October recommendations by the government spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee.

• HMRC gave as an example its continuing work to develop a value-added tax “split method,” in which a bank or payment intermediary would withhold part of the VAT due on ...