Prolific Academic Survey Alerts

SensibleSarah

I've done a few of the video AI audio ones over the weekend, but none have been approved as yet. I'm not going to do any more until I know that I'll be paid for the ones I have done. The first one took over 30 mins, but all since have been 25 mins or under. Very poor payment per hour compared to the original fact checking studies though, but can't complain if it's dead time for me otherwise. Ah the heady days of March when I earned £1k just through fact checking tasks

MollyR

If a study hasn't been paid for after 21 days, Prolific put through the payment themselves.

householder7

Hi all - would appreciate bit of advice about the HMRC situation if at all possible. I haven't been active on Prolific for a while but at one point saw the bit about address required to cash out; now there's the next level of having to supply NI numbers or what have you.

I don't earn much on Prolific but have an outstanding balance (I can't see how long a period this covers because I can't see submissions til I give the necessary info), it's well under the reporting limit in any case. 

No intention of giving my NI number so I will be quitting but have 2 questions - cashing out appears to still involve just giving home address, is that right? It's the only unticked bit on the cashout box on balance page. 

Also I can't make head nor tail of the two statements below from 2 of their FAQ, they seem to contradict each other?!

I'm sure this question has been covered but have been unwell and not really up to reading lots of threads and the ones I have seen don't quite apply. Thanks for any help 

 ___

"What this means for you:

Prolific is now required to collect some personal information and report your earnings to relevant tax authorities"

and -

"Do I have to pay tax?

It's important to note that participants are not employees of Prolific - they are independent contractors so we do not report the Rewards they make to a revenue service (e.g. Inland Revenue in the UK). We simply act as the commercial agent to negotiate and/or conclude contracts between researchers and participants."

elsien

Reading that, to me it says that prolific don’t pay tax on your behalf. It’s up to you work out any tax you owe, and pay it within your own tax regime. They do notify  HMRC if you are in the reporting  brackets as  a reportable seller. 

I had an email earlier in the year telling me this:

In accordance with DAC7 regulations, we, Prolific, as a reporting platform operator, are required to provide both the tax authorities of an EU Member State and our reportable sellers with the information we submit regarding their activities.

This notification is to inform you that as of 31 December 2024, you have been designated as a reportable seller.

As required by DAC7 provisions, we are sharing the relevant details with you, ensuring transparency about the information reported to the tax authorities. This includes a detailed breakdown of your earnings and transaction count (i.e., the number of studies taken part in) for each quarter.
(Please note that any earnings originally in USD have been converted to their GBP equivalent value).

Reported Information Details:
Reporting Period: 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024

Value

@elsien I didn't reach the threshold last year (stopped doing studies during the year to stay under!) but this year I might. Wondered if you get a breakdown that matches our tax year rather than calendar year? I know I can download all study payments but the payment date doesn't necessarily match the date the study was completed.

silvercar

Value said:

@elsien I didn't reach the threshold last year (stopped doing studies during the year to stay under!) but this year I might. Wondered if you get a breakdown that matches our tax year rather than calendar year? I know I can download all study payments but the payment date doesn't necessarily match the date the study was completed.

Arguably the date you withdraw is significant. In the same way that your pay day is used to calculate your tax year earnings rather than the date you worked.

silvercar

The law overrides any condition that prolific quotes. They clearly haven't kept their T&Cs up to date. The UK isn't an EU state, so DAC7 doesn't apply. If hmrc require information, then prolific will provide it. 

elsien

I understand that, but the point is still that any tax  you owe is down to you and not to prolific.

olliebean

I knew I'd seen something relevant to this: https://www.payrollplus.ltd.uk/news/business-news/archive/article/2025/March/side-hustle-trading-threshold-raised-to-3000-per-year

The reporting threshold for trading income for self assessment is being lifted from £1,000 to £3,000 gross within this parliament, according to the Treasury.

This includes people trading clothes online, dog-walking or gardening on the side, driving a taxi, or creating content online.

The Treasury says this will benefit around 300,000 taxpayers who will no longer need to file a self assessment tax return.

An estimated 90,000 of them will have no tax to pay and no reason to report their trading income to HMRC in the future at all. Others will be able to pay any tax they owe through a new simple online service.

So, some time before the next general election I suspect this will cease to be a problem for most Prolific participants.

householder7

elsien said:

Reading that, to me it says that prolific don’t pay tax on your behalf. It’s up to you work out any tax you owe, and pay it within your own tax regime. They do notify  HMRC if you are in the reporting  brackets as  a reportable seller. 

Thanks, I understand that as far as it goes, but yes it's the 'reporting' side that seems unclear - those two bits I quoted are literally side by side in the FAQs, one saying we do report, the next saying we don't?? 


..Can anyone that has done it confirm if I can cash out just by supplying my address?