Checked your personal tax account?

HMRC implemented the personal tax account back in 2015 with every UK taxpayer having their own personal tax account. However, an ever-larger percentage of the working population are unaware of their tax account and the importance of checking it regularly.
What is a personal tax account and benefits of using it regularly:
Your personal tax account is a safe secure online system that gives you access to check, update, and manage all your personal tax information in one place, enabling individuals to control their tax affairs online at any time of day without having to call or write to HMRC.
Through using your online personal tax account you will be able to update HMRC about changes to your circumstances such as updating your address, marital status, having a child and updating the benefits received from your work.
Ensuring that your personal information is up to date with HMRC is vital to ensure that you are receiving paper correspondence, not overpaying tax on benefits you no longer receive or controlling your child benefits which could have to be repaid if you or your partner are earning over £50,000. It is also important to check your latest PAYE coding notices that are shown on the personal tax login, if your PAYE tax code is incorrect it is likely to lead to having the incorrect amount of tax deducted from your salary leading to you over or under paying tax.
Time to check last year’s tax return:
Now that your 2021/22 tax return has been filed it is important to check your online personal tax account ensuring HMRC are showing the same amount of tax due as your personal tax return. Although it is not common, HMRC do have the power and do occasionally amend submitted tax returns on your behalf, this may be due to additional income that has not been declared or an incorrect allocation or omittance of marriage allowance.
These changes can lead to a tax payment chase letter from HMRC, causing unwanted and unneeded stress and worry. By identifying any variances that occur these can be dealt with and corrected quickly so that you are paying the correct amount of tax and not incurring the daily interest that HMRC charge for late or underpayments.
State Pension Entitlement:
Your personal tax account also allows you to check the Government’s record of how many full years of NIC contributions you’ve made. This will then allow you to check if you are on target to reach the 35 years required for a full state pension at statutory retirement age.
How to set up your personal tax account:
If you have not yet registered your personal tax account now is the perfect time to do so with the new tax year just having started. To set up your personal tax account takes only 15 minutes, you will need your national insurance number or postcode and also two of the following personal pieces of information:
- A Valid Passport or photocard driver’s licence.
- A payslip from the last 3 months or your latest P60.
- Details of a tax credit claim if you’ve made one.
- Details of a Self Assessment if you’ve made one.
- Information held on you credit record, such as loans, credit cards or mortgages.
Once you have these you need to follow the instructions on this link:
https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account
Time to register for Self Assessment if required:
If your circumstances changed in the 2022/23 tax year, such that you will need to file a Self Assessment tax return, you must register for Self Assessment before the 5th October. This can be done online through your personal tax account without the need of download, printing and posting forms. By using your online personal tax account you will receive your unique tax reference (UTR) in a much timelier manner.
If you have any questions, please contact your usual Whitings contact or local office.
Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.