H M Revenue & Customs are developing their online systems in readiness for Making Tax Digital. They suggest that instead of telephoning or writing to HMRC, that taxpayers can access their Personal Tax Account to view information about their tax affairs and tell HMRC online about changes that may affect the tax they pay.
The Personal Tax Account makes it easier for individuals to manage their tax affairs by bringing them together in one place online. They are encouraging taxpayers to use their Tax Account and have access to the services currently available through it.
These include:
checking their income tax estimate and tax code
telling HMRC about changes affecting their company car
using the online forms available to claim tax deductible work expenses or tax that’s due back
seeing the progress of forms they’ve sent HMRC online
checking the expected level of their state pension
renewing their tax credits
telling HMRC about a change of address
registering for a paperless relationship with HMRC.
You can register in a few minutes at https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account by having your National Insurance number, P60 and passport to hand so that you can set up a Government Gateway account to make sure the process is secure. As your accountant, I may already have your Government Gateway account username and password, so please ask if you want these details. I should not be using these login details any more as I can access most of your tax affairs through my own agent account with HMRC. HMRC are making it almost impossible for tax agents, like All Paul Limited, to access your Personal Tax Account and help you by requiring a code be texted to the user of the Personal Tax Account every time it is accessed.
More services will be added in the future. Later this year, employees will be able to use their Personal Tax Account to:
view a tax calculation for the previous year(s)
make payments online
check your employment history.
Making these changes yourself online means that you don’t have to wait for H M Revenue & Customs to update your tax code. It also means that if you use the online service, as an employer you should get fewer enquiries. Individuals can see any changes they make online, which means they’re less likely to approach their HR or payroll departments.