General

A UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account can be used by eligible users to view and prove their immigration status online. This may be required to provide proof of your status to employers or higher education providers.

The service can also be used to update personal details or to check what rights you have in the UK, for example the right to work, rent or claim benefits.

You will have a UKVI if you have ever:

• applied to the EU Settlement Scheme;
• used the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to prove your identity when applying for a visa;
• created one when applying for a visa (you will have received a UKVI account confirmation email); and
• created one to get access to an eVisa (an online record of your immigration status) – you will have received an email about this.

If you are unable to access your account, then you will need to recover your UK Visas and Immigration Account by calling the UK Visas and Immigration phone line on 0300 790 6268.

HMRC’s free tax app is available to download from the App Store for iOS and from the Google Play Store for Android. The latest version of the app includes updated functionality.

The app can be used to see:

• your tax code and National Insurance number;
• your income and benefits;
• your income from work in the previous 5 years;
• how much you will receive in tax credits and when they will be paid;
• your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) self-assessment;
• how much self-assessment tax you owe;
• your Child Benefit; and
• your State Pension.

The app can also be used to complete a number of tasks that usually require the user to be logged on to a computer. This includes:

• get an estimate of the tax you need to pay;
• make a self-assessment payment;
• set a reminder to make a self-assessment payment;
• report tax credits changes and complete your renewal;
• access your Help to Save account;
• using HMRC’s tax calculator to work out your take home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance deductions;
• track forms and letters you have sent to HMRC;
• claim a refund if you have paid too much tax;
• ask HMRC’s digital assistant for help and information;
• update your name and / or postal address;
• save your National Insurance number to your digital wallet; and
• choose to be contacted by HMRC electronically, instead of by letter.

HMRC has, for many years, looked to target businesses that deliberately undertake electronic sales suppression (ESS). ESS happens where a business deliberately manipulates its electronic sales records in order to hide or reduce the value of individual transactions. 

This type of fraud is hard to spot as it tries to reduce the recorded turnover of the business and the corresponding tax liabilities while providing what appears to be a credible and compliant audit trail. This can be done by misusing built in till functions or installing software specifically designed to suppress sales.

HMRC officers are continuing to target businesses across the country that are suspected of being involved in making, supplying or promoting ESS systems. These businesses can face fines of up to £50,000 and criminal investigations. HMRC is also actively targeting users of these systems who will also face having to pay back tax evaded, financial penalties and possible criminal convictions. HMRC has confirmed that they will continue to contact and target till fraud throughout 2024.

HMRC is also urging affected businesses to voluntarily come forward and use the online portal to disclose their undeclared sales and stop using ESS software immediately. If businesses do not come forward, HMRC may issue an assessment and open an investigation, and harsher penalties will apply.

In a recent press release the government confirmed the following policies to support household incomes from 1 April 2024.

1. The National Living Wage has officially risen from £10.42 an hour to £11.44. This marks a £1,800 annual boost to full-time workers’ pay packets. This means nobody over 21 will earn less than two-thirds of the average hourly wage increase – putting more money in the pockets of around 3 million of UK’s lowest paid workers.
2. Households will also save around £250 a year on average thanks to a drop in energy bills introduced by Ofgem. This marks a 12.3% fall from the previous quarter, which brings prices down to their lowest since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
3. An increase to the Local Housing Allowance means some of the poorest families on either Universal Credit or Housing Benefit will gain around £800 a year on average. 
4. Additionally, these changes run alongside the roll out of 15 hours of free childcare, which will save working parents an average of £3,450 a year – the first stage in the £8 billion childcare package that was announced by the Chancellor last year.

Clearly the recent increases in inflation have had a major impact on spending power and although the above measures are welcomed, the real increases in purchasing power are to some extent reduced by the continuing increase in prices.

HMRC has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown on plans to close the Self-Assessment, VAT and PAYE helplines from early April until September this year. HMRC has now confirmed that these helpline changes have been abandoned following feedback from many concerned stakeholders, including MPs, accountants and members of the public. This means that the helplines will remain open as usual for the time being.

However, these moves indicate that a significant shift towards online self-service options will become the norm in the longer term. HMRC has also said that they will continue encouraging customers to self-serve where possible and access the information they need more quickly and easily by going online or to the HMRC app, which is available 24/7.

HMRC’s Chief Executive said:

‘Making best use of online services allows HMRC to help more taxpayers and get the most out of every pound of taxpayers’ money by boosting productivity.

Our helpline and webchat advisers will always be there for those taxpayers who need support because they are vulnerable, digitally excluded or have complex affairs.

However, the pace of this change needs to match the public appetite for managing their tax affairs online.

We’ve listened to the feedback and we’re halting the helpline changes as we recognise more needs to be done to ensure all taxpayers’ needs are met, whilst also encouraging them to transition to online services.’

HMRC has issued an updated ‘news story’ to confirm that, where possible, new legal proceedings and pre-action letters can be served on the department using email instead of post. This measure was originally introduced in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The update confirms that this is a permanent change and not just limited to COVID-19 arrangements.

New legal proceedings in England and Wales to be served on the Solicitor for HMRC should be emailed to: newproceedings@hmrc.gov.uk. If you use email instead of hard copy, you must send the relevant documents to the same email address – whether or not an HMRC lawyer, paralegal or litigator has already been assigned to the case. HMRC may challenge any attempt to serve new legal proceedings on the department using a different HMRC email address.

Correspondence required to be sent to the Solicitor for HMRC in compliance with any pre-action protocol to the Civil Procedure Rules, including the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review, can be emailed to: preactionletters@hmrc.gov.uk.

There is a different email address (expertadviceservice@hmrc.gov.uk) for the service of employment law claims on HMRC.

These email addresses are for the service of new proceedings and pre-action letters only. There is separate guidance if you wish to request a review of a tax decision by HMRC or appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber). 

Leaders from top comparison sites, RAC and The AA will be among those meeting the Energy Affordability Minister to help share new fuel price data and keep costs down for motorists. 

Price comparison sites and map apps will have access to this new data as part of the government’s PumpWatch initiative, which aims to drive down prices at the pumps. The scheme will look to make fuel prices, updated within 30 minutes of changes, available to the public by the end of this year. The move will further drive competition and place even more power back into hands of consumers and motorists to get the cheapest fuel available in their area.

The latest step follows the government’s plans and support for motorists in the Spring Budget 2024, as fuel duty is frozen for a further 12 months, extending the 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling any increase with inflation. This has saved the average car driver around £250 over the past 3 years and is worth £13 billion.

Working with The AA, Confused.com, Go.Compare, PetrolPrices.com and RAC, the government is making sure the freely available data will be simple and easy to understand. The data could be used by journey planning sites and in-car devices too, to help over 41 million drivers to help save money wherever they live in the UK. 

The government presses on with work to keep bringing down costs for hardworking families. The fuel duty cut extension, alongside maintaining fuel duty rates at their current levels for another year, will save families 7p a litre for petrol and diesel compared to previous plans.

It is not unusual for taxpayers to find themselves in a position where they disagree with a tax decision issued by HMRC. There are a number of different options open to taxpayers seeking to use the review and appeals process.

Note, that there is a separate procedure to be followed by taxpayers that make a complaint about HMRC for issues such as unreasonable delays, mistakes and poor treatment by HMRC’s staff.

It may be possible to make an appeal against a tax decision. You can appeal to HMRC against a penalty, for example for:

• an inaccurate return
• sending in your tax return late
• paying tax late
• failing to keep adequate records

There is normally a 30-day deadline for making a claim, so time is of the essence. HMRC will then conduct a review, by using HMRC officers that were not involved in the original decision. A response to an appeal is usually made within 45 days but can take longer for complex issues.

If the taxpayers do not agree with HMRC’s review, there are further options available which include making an appeal to the tax tribunal or using the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process. The ADR uses independent HMRC facilitators to help resolve disputes between HMRC and the taxpayer.

HMRC continues to warn of the ever-present problem of fraudulent phishing emails, suspicious phone calls and texts. These unwanted emails, phone calls and texts are being sent from around the world as HMRC and other agencies continue to combat the problem.

These messages aim to obtain taxpayers personal and or financial information such as passwords, credit card or bank account details. The phishing emails and texts often include a link to a bogus website encouraging the recipient to enter their personal details.

For example, taxpayers who completed their tax return for the 2022-23 tax year by the 31 January 2024 deadline might be taken in by an email, phone call or text message offering a tax rebate.

Recipients of phony messages should avoid clicking on any links. HMRC asks that phishing emails and bogus text messages are reported. The emails can be sent to HMRC by email phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk or by text message to 60599.

HMRC responded to 207,800 referrals from the public of suspicious contact in the past year to January – up 14% from the 181,873 reported for the previous 12 months. More than 79,000 of those referrals offered bogus tax rebates.

HMRC is clear that they do not email, text or phone a customer to tell them that they are due a refund or ask them to request a refund. Taxpayers receive repayments into their chosen bank account, and can see any transactions in their online HMRC account and in the HMRC app. 

Self-employed taxpayers should notify HMRC as soon as practicable when they begin working for themselves. HMRC must be officially notified by 5 October following the end of the tax year so that a self-assessment return can be issued on time and to avoid any unnecessary penalties.

HMRC’s guidance says that you are probably self-employed if you:

• run your business for yourself and take responsibility for its success or failure;
• have several customers at the same time;
• can decide how, where and when you do your work;
• can hire other people at your own expense to help you or to do the work for you;
• provide the main items of equipment to do your work;
• are responsible for finishing any unsatisfactory work in your own time;
• charge an agreed fixed price for your work; or
• sell goods or services to make a profit (including through websites or apps).

The newly self-employed should also register to pay National Insurance contributions (NICs) and monitor whether a VAT registration is required.

There is a £1,000 tax allowances for miscellaneous trading income that has been available to taxpayers since April 2017. This is known as the trading allowance.

The exemption from tax applies to taxpayers who have trading income of up to £1,000 from:

• self-employment;
• casual services, for example, babysitting or gardening; and
• hiring personal equipment, for example, power tools.

Where this £1,000 allowance covers all the individual’s relevant income (before expenses) the income is tax-free and does not have to be declared to HMRC.