Artifact Signing (Trusted Signing) Public Trust identity validation for a UK sole trader: which document satisfies "government business registration"?

Question

Artifact Signing (Trusted Signing) Public Trust identity validation for a UK sole trader: which document satisfies "government business registration"?

Andrew Tollervey 0

I am a sole trader in the United Kingdom applying for Artifact Signing (formerly Trusted Signing) Public Trust identity validation. I filed it as an Organization validation, because a UK sole trader has no Companies House registration, and the quickstart says Individual developer validation is only available in the United States and Canada.

The request is now in Action Required for the second time. Vetting Operations asks for "official business registration documentation from an official government agency that lists company name, address and contact information", and lists three acceptable types: formation documents (certificate of incorporation, partnership deed); a government-issued letter, licence, registration or certificate with dates and business information; or a record on a government registry website.

Already uploaded: a bank letter, a domain purchase invoice, and an HMRC tax-year document (uploaded under "Formation documents" because no closer category was offered). I have received three "Request for additional documents" notifications, so I believe the next upload is my last attempt and I want to get it right.

A UK sole trader is registered only with HMRC for Self Assessment. HMRC issues a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and periodic letters showing legal name and address. The organisation name and address on my request are my legal name and business address, and they match the documents already provided.

Questions:

For a UK sole trader, is an HMRC Self Assessment letter (legal name, address, UTR, dated within the last 12 months) accepted as the "Government issued letter, license, registration, or certificate"? If so, which Document type should it be uploaded under?
If not, which document can a UK sole trader supply?
If Public Trust organization validation is simply not available to a UK sole trader, please confirm, so I can plan an alternative.

I can share the identity validation ID privately.

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Answer 1

One thing worth ruling out before you spend an attempt on documents. From the Quickstart:

"The billing account type must match the identity validation type: a billing account with an Account Type of 'Individual' can only be used for individual identity validation. You cannot use an individual billing account to validate an organization identity, or vice versa."

Worth confirming which type yours is set to, since a mismatch there can't be fixed with documents.

1. Is an HMRC Self Assessment letter accepted, and under which document type?

There's no published per-country document list, so whether an HMRC letter clears the bar is Vetting Operations call rather than something documented. Your recency is fine though: the FAQ requires documents issued within the previous 12 months.

2. If not, which document can a UK sole trader supply?

As mentioned in point 1 there's no published per-country document list. FAQ points that, which may serve you better: "If it isn't possible to provide additional documentation, update your account information to match any legal documents already provided or your official Company registration details." So ensure to align the account details to what HMRC already says about you.

3. Is organization validation available to a UK sole trader at all?

The UK is listed among the regions where Public Trust is available to organizations. Whether a sole trader counts as a "legal business entity" isn't stated anywhere I can find, so I can't confirm it.

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