What is a Personal Tax Account?

A Personal Tax Account is a HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) system that puts an individual’s tax details in one place so they can register, file, pay and update their tax information online whenever they want.

Eight million people are already using their personal tax account to complete a variety of tasks, from simply updating an address to filing their self-assessment return.

With your Personal Tax Account, you can:

•            Check your address and correct it if the information is not correct

•            See what your tax code is and how your tax is calculated

•            Check your National Insurance and state pension record

•            Replace paper by receiving texts and emails from HMRC rather than letters

•            Manage tax credits and Child Benefit payments

In addition to the Personal Tax Account for individuals, there is also an Online Tax Account for Businesses, which gives small and medium-sized businesses similar access to their HMRC account, as well as being able to process taxes including PAYE for employers, VAT, Corporation Tax, and Self-Assessment.

When the Government’s Making Tax Digital project is complete by 2020, individuals and small business will no longer need to submit the same details to numerous places as the information about pensions, employment, PAYE codes will all be gathered together to calculate tax.

By 2020, this all-encompassing online portal is predicted to be providing more than 50 million individuals and small businesses with the possibility of making voluntary quarterly payments. This may avoid having to make large biannual payments on account and balancing payments, therefore making it easier to manage cash flow.

Date published 23 Mar 2017

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.