What is a Personal Tax Account and should I register for one?

What is a Personal Tax Account and should I register for one?

HMRC introduced a Personal Tax Account system in 2015. Over 3.5million people are already signed up and using the new system. HMRC is encouraging everyone to create their own Personal Tax Account. This article explains the basics of what the accounts are, what you can do with them and the benefits of signing up.

What is a Personal Tax Account?

The Personal Tax Account system is a new online resource HMRC has launched to enable you to view and make changes to your information online. It is intended that you will be able to manage your tax affairs through the account rather than phoning or writing to HMRC.

What can I do through my Personal Tax Account?

There are already over 30 services available through the new system, these include:

  • Checking your Income Tax estimate and tax code
  • Filling in, sending and viewing a personal tax return
  • Claiming a tax refund
  • Checking and manage your tax credits
  • Telling HMRC about changes which may affect Child Benefit
  • Checking your State Pension
  • Tracking tax forms that you’ve submitted online
  • Checking or updating your Marriage Allowance
  • Telling HMRC about a change of address
  • Check or update benefits you get from work, e.g. company car details and medical insurance

More services will be added in the future, such as the ability to check if you’ve paid the right amount of tax and arrange for a refund if you’ve paid too much.

What is the benefit of signing up?

The new account makes it much easier to make changes to the information HMRC holds about you. Launching in early 2017, families making a new claim to Child Benefit online can use their Personal Tax Account. They will not need to send their child’s birth certificate to HMRC, as they will be able to automatically check details with the relevant birth registration offices.

For parents who are claiming Tax Credits the new system makes it much easier to keep track of your claim and you can renew online when the time for renewal comes.

The HMRC helpline is notoriously difficult to get through to so this new system can save you time and make dealing with HMRC quicker and easier.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact our Tax & Benefits service on 0800 988 2377 or by emailing tax@adviceni.net.

How do I sign up?

To sign up you must first register for a Government Gateway account, you will need your National Insurance number and your P60. Once this has been completed you can sign into your Personal Tax Account using the Gateway ID, password and your National Insurance number.

To sign up or sign in you can use the dedicated Personal Tax Account website: https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account.

You can also sign in using a GOV.UK Verify account if you have one.

Where can I find further information?

You can follow the development of Personal Tax Accounts at HMRC Digital’s blog: https://hmrcdigital.blog.gov.uk/

For more information on family benefits you could be entitled to please call our Family Benefits Advice Team on 0800 028 3008 or email hello@employersforchildcare.org.

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