HMRC’s latest update confirms acceptance of tax calculations from agents

HMRC’s latest Agent Update announces their plan to withdraw paper copies of the SA302 (for mortgage application purposes) for taxpayers whose self-assessment tax returns are submitted by an agent.  This will take effect from 4 September 2017.

To date we have been calling HMRC in order to obtain a paper copy of a client’s tax calculation where the client’s mortgage lender will not accept copies printed from HMRC’s online account or our commercial software as, in our experience, many lenders would not accept this new procedure. Clients therefore had to wait up to two weeks for HMRC to issue the required paperwork by post.

However, HMRC have recently been in further discussions with UK Finance (formerly the Council of Mortgage Lenders) to ensure that lenders will now accept copies of the tax calculations printed from third party software, supported by a copy of the Tax Year Overview obtained from HMRC’s online account.  We are advised that the majority of lenders have agreed to the new procedure, prompting HMRC to make the decision to cease issuing SA302 calculations to agents altogether.

The up-to-date list of Mortgage Providers and lenders that have agreed to accept tax calculations that agents have printed themselves can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mortgage-providers-and-lenders-who-accept-a-sa302-tax-calculation-or-tax-year-overview

In theory this should speed up the mortgage application process, as we are able to obtain the required paperwork at any time (providing we have submitted a self-assessment tax return online).

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.