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If you're new to HMRC's digital services, you may be wondering what a Personal Tax Account is and whether you need to get one.
In this brief article, we'll explore what a Personal Tax Account is, what the benefits are for having one and how to open your own account.
What is a Personal Tax Account?
A Personal Tax Account is an online solution that was set up by HMRC in 2015 in order to provide a ‘one-stop’ destination for UK tax-payers to get answers to many of the most frequently asked questions.
What are the benefits of getting a Personal Tax Account?
Some of the benefits include the following:
- It allows individuals to manage their own tax affairs online at any hour of the day or night;
- It offers a far more accurate and streamlined approach to keeping records than other methods such as paper filing;
- Tax information is updated and can be checked in real-time.
What information and services does a Personal Tax Account provide?
The following can all be done from within your Personal Tax Account:
- Getting an income tax estimate;
- Checking your tax code;
- Claiming a tax refund;
- Submitting your tax return;
- Making a payment;
- Finding out the reasons why HMRC say you owe them tax;
- Checking and managing your tax credits;
- Checking your State Pension statement;
- Managing child benefits including applying for or making any changes to;
- Checking for any gaps in your National Insurance contributions;
- Tracking the status of any forms you’ve submitted to HMRC online;
- Checking or updating your Marriage Allowance;
- Informing HMRC about a change of address;
- Checking or updating any benefits you get from work eg company car, medical insurance etc…;
- Finding out what your National Insurance Number is;
- Opting to go paperless and receive information from HMRC online or by email;
- Finding out what your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) is.
This is not an exhaustive list and new services are being added by HMRC all the time. Hence, for a full list, please visit HMRC.
How do I get a Personal Tax Account?
Getting a Personal Tax Account is a fairly straight-forward process.
First, go to this HMRC webpage and click on the ‘Start Now’ tab. Next, you’ll be asked to either sign in, using your Government Gateway account or create a new one. A Government Gateway account is something you should already have if you’ve ever submitted tax returns online. Likewise, if you’ve ever claimed the ‘Jobseekers Allowance’ benefit or ‘Taxfree Childcare’ benefit. The same Government Gateway account can be used for any and all of these purposes.
Although the above article answers questions such as ‘What is a Personal Tax Account?’, ‘What are the benefits of getting a Personal Tax Account?’ And, ‘how do I get a Personal Tax Account?’, you may still have more questions. If so, please feel free to get in touch with our experienced team who will be happy to assist you.
