Anyone else waiting for a UTR from HMRC?

[Freedomsjustanotherword]

My 16 year old ds applied for a UTR mid-January, and still hasn't received it. His Government gateway account says it will be sent 3 March 2026 - clearly not!

When I became self-employed, albeit quite a long time ago, my UTR came in a week or so.

Anyone else having a similar wait and is there something he can do to speed it up. Obvs, he can't get paid until he has a UTR.

TIA

So is he going to be self employed rather than working on a PAYE basis for a company?

Why does he need a UTR and how does this affect him getting paid?

Why can’t he be paid without a UTR?

Is this for CIS? I think he can get paid but they will deduct 30% rather than 20% which can be sorted out at a later date.

Yes, self-employed not PAYE. His employer have asked for his UTR as confirmation that he is SE. Although having written that, I've just thought that they can't insist on it.

UTRs usually get posted out in 2-3 weeks.

If it says it was sent on 3 March, I'd keep an eye on the post and also recommend that he telephones HMRC to ask for it. They will normally give it to you over the phone if there's been a delay with the post.

They're not his "employer" if he's self-employed. Please ensure he is genuinely self-employed, and not just taking that route because that's what the 'employer' wants. If not working in construction/under the CIS scheme, the customer should accept proof of the SE registration and insurance as sufficient in the short-term (nobody's going to pay for business insurance who doesn't need it), with UTR provided once received. You have 3 months to tell HMRC when you become self-employed so it's quite possible to be legitimately self-employed but not yet have a UTR.