Professional Services Withholding Tax (PSWT)

Payments excluded from PSWT

Certain types of payments and fees are excluded from PSWT. These are:

• payments to employees taxed through Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
• payments where Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) applies
• payments between accountable persons
• payments to charities that have an Income Tax exemption
• payments made by the foreign branch or agency of an accountable person. Payments must be made abroad, for a service provided abroad by a service provider resident abroad
• and
• inter group payments, for example payments between subsidiaries of the same company, or from a parent company to a subsidiary.

Services which are generally excluded from PSWT include:

• teaching, training or lecturing services
• translation services
• proofreading services
• stenography services
• setting and assessing oral, aural or written examinations
• contract cleaning services
• and
• maintenance and repair work.

Value Added Tax (VAT), Stamp Duty and other fees

You should not include any VAT your service provider charges when calculating the amount of PSWT you deduct.

Your service provider may also invoice you for fees and duties paid to certain authorities. You do not deduct PSWT from these payments. Fees excluded from PSWT include:

• stamp duties
• land registry fees
• deed of registration fees
• company office fees
• and
• court fees.

Next: PSWT for accountable persons