Have you set up your Personal Tax Account?

hoc wrote: »

Is it still limited to British nationals only? I remember my EU friend was unable to sign up to this about a year ago unlike online Personal Assessment, etc.

No.

Anyone who has a national insurance number and cav verify themselves can access the system.

agrinnall wrote: »

I have set it up and I have used it (primarily to look at my NI contributions record). Is there an intention to expand the things that can be done in the future?

Yes. More options will be added as time goes by.

The intention is that eventually this will become the first point of contact to resolve most issues, make claims submit forms etc.

hoc wrote: »

Thanks. Just to make sure I'm not confusing this with something else, this is the system that is to replace the Personal Assessment isn't it? The one that eventually will be linked to bank accounts eliminating need to track bank interest for example.

Anyone who used to use the old online self assessment system will now have to go through the process of verification to create the personal tax account. This is done automatically when you log in using the self assessment online user ID and Password.

The 2 systems will operate in tandem but if you need to submit a self assessment online you will access the service via the personal tax account.

The issue regarding bank interest is seperate. The banks will now provide all details regarding interest received at the end of the tax year and it will be recorded on each individuals tax record.

The personal tax account can then be used to provide estimates of current year interest should you believe it will be higher/lower than the last tax year.

The personal tax account can be used to make payment for the new 'simple assessment' process.

Where an individual is not in Self Assessment, HMRC will automatically review their record at the end of the tax year when all information is received from employers, pension providers, dwp, and banks.

If the tax due is more than £3000, or cannot be collected by restricting the following years tax code, the individual will have to pay the tax due by the later of 31 January following the end of the tax year, or 3 months and 7 days from the date of the calculation.

Prior to April 2017 HMRC could not enforce these types of calculations without transferring the individual into Self Assessment. That has now changed and these calculations are now lawfully enforceable, with interest and penalties charged if the tax is paid late without prior arrangement.

hoc wrote: »

What is the definition of "the old online self assessment system"? Is that a previous SA from years gone by or the current SA? I did my 16-17 tax using SA 2 months ago, was that "the old online self assessment system"?



Since when or to begin when? I submitted my latest SA 2 months ago, did I "access the service via the personal tax account"?

the only way to access the HMRC self assessment service now is either by the Business Tax Account or the PTA. Its been this way now for the last 2 years.

When did this start? My last SA was a blank slate I had to fill in. Is this because it had not started yet or I was not on the new system?

the information is recorded on the PAYE system. Everyone has a record where they have a National Insurance Number, even if they have no live PAYE income. The information doesnt automatically populate onto self assessment but can be viewed within the PTA.

This could always be done, couldn't it? Certainly by phone and letter, it is just one of the simple values that goes into the tax code that can be adjusted during the year. What is new here, that it can now be done online (I presumed was the case already) or that the estimate coming in from banks (each month) can be seen and used similar to say gas or electricity estimates.
yes it can be reported by phone and by letter, but HMRC are actvely attempting to cut this type of contact by putting the taxpayer more in control of their own taxes.
You can see the estimates that are currently held on your records for the current year. These are generally based on historic data (from the previous tax year/last SA tax return.

If you need to update the information you can update it and the PTA will show you what your new tax code will be without anyone from HMRC having to process the information from a telephone call, letter or iForm.


All of this seems identical to current except for the last part which I'm not sure I follow, not that it's a vital point for me as I pay on time each year.

in the past only self assessment payments could be paid online. Those who were not in self assessment would be asked to voluntarily pay the tax they owed following issue of an informal assessments the only way to pay where the underpayment could not be collected by restriction to the tax code would be by cheque. These assessments were informal and so no penalties or interest were charged.

If they did not pay these people were sent tax returns to fill in for those years, therefore making the debt legally recoverable. But this came at a cost to HMRC, and therefore to UK taxpayers.

These informal calculations have now been changed to formal calculations, or Simple Assessments. Again, they are issued to people who dont need to do self assessment as they dont meet the criteria. To pay the tax due from these assessments where it cannot be collected via a restriction to the tax code, the taxpayer will be asked to pay via the personal tax account. They will be expected to pay by 31 January following the end of the tax year that the assessment is issued for, or within 3 months and 7 days, whichever is the latter. If they dont pay by the due date they will be issued with penalties and interest charges, just as happens with self assessment.

It means that a lot more people can now be taken out of self assessment where they have simple tax affairs that could be dealt with via the Simple Assessment process.