Information for Salford licensees

Tax checks on application or renewal of licence after April 2022

HMRC recently published guidance for licensees in relation to new tax checks that will be implemented from 4 April 2022. 

After this date, if you apply for a new licence or apply to renew an existing driver, operator or vehicle licence, you will need to complete a tax check.

• You must carry out the tax check yourself. 
• The tax check will ask questions about how you pay any tax that may be due on income you earn from your licensed trade.
• After you have completed the tax check you will be given a 9-character tax check code.
• You will need to give the code on your application to the licensing authority, so they can confirm you have carried out a tax check.
• You will not be granted a licence if you do not give a tax check code to your licensing authority.

The Licensing Service plan to update our online application and renewal forms so that you can simply provide your tax check code to the licensing authority at point of application. 

Information relating to your tax affairs is not shared with the local authority as part of this process.

What you should do before April 2022

• Get a Government Gateway user ID and password

You will need a Government Gateway user ID and password to complete a tax check, so you should make sure you have one before you need to make your licence application.

If you do not have a user ID, you can create one by registering for HMRC online services.

• Check your HMRC records are up to date

You can check your details are up to date when you get a Government Gateway user ID, or by signing in to HMRC Online Services.

• Find out if you must pay tax on your earnings from your licensed trade if you’re not already registered with HMRC

Check if you:

• must send a Self Assessment tax return if you’re self-employed or in a partnership.

• need to register for Corporation Tax if you operate a company

If you only pay tax through PAYE you do not need to check your records.

For further information, see HMRC guidance to licence applicants.

GM Clean Air Zone Financial Support Scheme for taxis and PHVs in January 2022

A financial support scheme to upgrade or retrofit GM-licensed taxis and private hire vehicles to comply with the GM-wide Clean Air Zone (CAZ) is set to open to applications in January 2022.

Taxis and private hire vehicles licensed with one of the 10 GM local authorities before 3 December 2020 that do not meet the Clean Air Zone’s emission standards will be liable for a CAZ charge from 1 June 2023.  This gives the GM taxi and private hire trade 17 months to apply for financial support to upgrade or retrofit their vehicles before they would be liable for a charge.

The GM Clean Air Zone is a key component of Greater Manchester’s green revolution, helping to tackle the problem of air pollution, which contributes towards at least 1,200 deaths per year in the city-region. GM has secured one of the largest support packages outside of London with £120m to help regional businesses, people and organisations upgrade to cleaner, compliant vehicles and avoid a daily charge.

New online checker for Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone

In May 2022, Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) will be implemented across the city region to improve air quality now and for future generations. From late January 2021, applications will be open for financial support to upgrade or retrofit non-compliant taxis and PHVs.

Early application is encouraged to ensure applicants are well-placed to access the available funding. A new online checker is now available to enable vehicle owners to find out if their vehicle is affected by the Clean Air Zone and whether they are eligible for financial support.

Sign-up for updates to stay up to date at cleanairgm.com.  If you require further information about Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone, please email info@cleanairgm.com

Introduction of Be.EV charging network tariff and launch of taxi membership scheme

A free membership scheme for Greater Manchester’s Be.EV electric vehicle charging point network is now open to Greater Manchester-licensed hackney and PHV drivers. The scheme will allow taxi drivers to use 60 new, dedicated taxi-only Be.EV rapid chargers when they are live at a discounted taxi member rate.  There will be one dedicated taxi rapid charger at the Hardman Street taxi rank in Spinningfields in Manchester city centre. This will be for the use of Manchester City Council-licensed hackney cabs only.

The first dedicated rapid charger available to all Greater Manchester-licensed hackneys and PHVs is currently scheduled to go live early in 2022, with all 60 chargers due to be installed by early 2023.

Get further information and apply to join the taxi membership scheme.

As previously shared, in Greater Manchester there are currently 360 charge points with around 700 connectors; more will be added in due course. 

For licensees utilising an electric vehicle, you can find all charge points in the UK and get live updates on availability on the interactive map.

Update on GM Minimum Licensing Standards

Following public consultation in 2020 on the proposals for GM Minimum Licensing Standards for driver, vehicle, operator and local authority, officers put forward final recommendations to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in two stages.

The first stage in respect of driver, operator and local authority standards was endorsed by the GMCA in September. You can view the associated reports on the GMCA website (item 15). The Standards were approved for adoption by Cabinet in Salford in September.

The second stage in respect of vehicle standards was endorsed by the GMCA in October. You can view the associated reports on the GMCA website (item 16).  The Standards are due to go before Cabinet in Salford in December.

Read more in relation to the standards, including an overview of measures.

Once a decision has been made in respect of Stage 2, the Licensing Authority will issue an updated taxi licensing policy for licensees and will provide licensees with information explaining when and how standards will be implemented.

• For licensing queries, email licensing@salford.gov.uk 
• For clean air funding enquiries, email info@cleanairgm.com

We are aware that on occasions drivers, vehicle owners and operators may be subject to unacceptable behaviour from members of the public. Some of the types of abuse include verbal and racial abuse or damage to vehicles. We would like licensees that experience this type of unacceptable behaviour to inform the Licensing Authority. Please report an incident using our online form. A news story was issued in February 2021 about the abuse of taxi and private hire drivers.