Global Trade Alert

On 2 September 2014, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) published a new EP 4 Agreement on its website. In the UK, short-term business visitors (STBV) can be exempt from pay-as-you-earn taxation when a double taxation treaty exists between the country of nationality of the foreign employee and the UK. In order to obtain this exemption, the UK employer must file an agreement with HMRC, the so-called EP Appendix 4 (EP 4) Agreement, also often referred to as a STBV Agreement.
Compared to the previous regime, the new document clarifies the terms and conditions of obtaining the agreement. Moreover, it extends the scope of the agreement: employers will be able to include employees who, while legally employed within the UK, have been seconded to a non-UK 'economic employer' and who return to the UK to perform employment duties. Additionally, STBV agreements can now be concluded even when the employee spends more than 60 days in the UK and the costs of their employment are ultimately borne in the UK, provided that it is expected that the employee will be exempted from UK tax under a double taxation treaty.