Government Gateway Account for Tax Affairs

Do you have a government gateway account for your own personal tax affairs and/or your business?

If not, I would encourage all our clients to get an account and request access to all their tax profiles. This will give you much better oversight of your tax affairs, and you can plan to ensure that your taxes are paid on time.

It can also save you from having to phone HMRC and spend a lot of time on the phone when you could have resolved it quickly and easily through your online account.

Creating a Government Gateway account can take time as it involves good old fashioned snail mail, so start this process sooner rather than later.

What is a Government Gateway Account?

A Government Gateway account is an online place where you can access your tax profiles and view submissions, update details, make payments and dispute/appeal things you don’t agree with.

You can set up a Government Gateway account both as an individual and for your business; however, you will need separate accounts for each.

I also use the HMRC application on my phone to log in and check my personal tax affairs. You can also check your state pension years and make sure you understand and are happy with how things are looking for your personal tax affairs.

If Anlo has done your personal self-assessment submission, you should be able to see the submission on your online account and make payments towards your tax liability quickly and easily.

You can’t use the phone app yet for your business account, so you will need a computer to access your business government gateway account.

If you have made a self-assessment income support claim, you should have a government gateway account. Now try and use the mobile application and see if you can navigate it.

Be aware that neither I nor any other accountant has access to your government gateway account details. This is something that you need to set up for yourself. As your accountant, I have set up a tax agent’s account, and all my clients are under my agent's government gateway account.

Don’t share your government gateway account details!!!

Here is a guideline from HMRC on how to set up an account: Government Gateway

How to set up a Government Gateway Account - step-by-step

1. Set up your Government Gateway Account using this link

Click sign-in, click create sign-in details, enter an email address (you will be sent a verification code, so make sure this email is accessible), enter your name and create a password.

Keep a secure note of your password and set up a recovery password in case you lose access to your account. It is really difficult to get access if you have been locked out of your Government Gateway account.

2. When your Government ID is generated, print out or save a copy. I usually save this on my drive and password-protect it.

You will need these details along with your password every time you want to log in.

The username is usually a long number, and your password is what you have set it as.

3. Choose what type of account you want:

• Individual account: you can view your personal tax history and plan your payments on account if you are self-employed and do not need any other services

• Business account: if you run a business and need services such as PAYE or VAT, you will need to register as an organisation.

There will be other options, but these are for agents and don’t apply to you.

4. Complete 2-step verification.

This provides extra security for your account if the details are lost or stolen.

You either use your phone number where an access code will be sent every time you log in or you can use an authentication app (such as Microsoft or Google authenticator).

Once you have set up the 2-step authentication, you will need to answer some security questions about your passport or recent earnings. This is to verify you. A lot of people struggle here if they are newly registered or if they are foreigners who have just moved to the UK.

5. Add the taxes you want to manage.

You won’t have access yet to view your tax types until you request access. This will take another few days to get the authorisation code. If you are in business, this may include Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE for employers.

From the business tax summary, click “get online access to a tax, duty or scheme.” Select the tax you want and click the green button.

You will need to add the details of each tax, e.g., Corporation Tax UTR, VAT registration number or employer PAYE reference numbers. If you haven’t registered for these tax types yet, you need to register first, and then when you receive your registration details, you can get access.

HMRC will then post activation codes to your Registered Offices.

You do not need to add taxes that you are not currently registered for.

Once you have a Government Gateway, you can add new taxes at any time.

If you need any assistance, you can get in touch with us and we’ll see what we can do!