If you’re an individual, you can report a change in name or address via the Government Gateway service, post or via HMRC’s app. You can also do this by phone – have your National Insurance number ready.
For businesses, you must tell HMRC if your name, business name, personal address or trading address change. You can also use Government Gateway, call HMRC or write to it. For corporation tax, you should tell Companies House first.
You are entitled to handle all of your tax affairs yourself. However, due to its complexity, the time it takes and the penalties for missing payments, some self-employed people and businesses pay someone else to deal with HMRC on their behalf, like an accountant or tax adviser.
They must meet HMRC’s set standards and will explain to you what you need to do to get them authorised to speak on your behalf. Usually, this is filling in a form or using Government Gateway.
Mr Arnold added: “A tax agent mainly acts on behalf of a taxpayer in relation to interactions with HMRC. This would include preparing and filing tax returns, advising on payments due to HMRC and dealing with any inquiries HMRC may raise.
“The tax agent may also provide advice on specific transactions or how changes in tax law may affect their client. Whether you need a tax agent would typically depend on how complex your tax affairs are, although many people with simpler tax affairs may still choose to use a tax agent to file their return rather than do it themselves.”
While an agent may save you time, it will cost you money, so you should consider whether it’s a service you need and can afford. Either way, you remain liable for the tax you need to pay and the accuracy of your tax returns.
HMRC will write to you or call you and tell you what it wants to check. Some examples are taxes, self-assessment returns or PAYE records and returns if you have staff. If you use an accountant, it’ll contact them instead.
When this happens, HMRC can ask to visit your home, business or adviser’s office, or ask you to visit them. If you don’t send information, or refuse the visit, you might have to pay a penalty.
Afterwards, you will get a refund if you’ve paid too much, or get 30 days to pay anything you owe. There may be a penalty involved on any debt you have, depending on when you told HMRC, why you’ve underpaid and how helpful you were during the visit.
VAT officers can inspect your records to make sure you’re paying the right amount. You’ll normally get seven days’ notice, but they can call or visit without an appointment. You might be able to delay the appointment, particularly if your business is about to enter a very busy period or it will take longer to get the required information together. You should speak to HMRC directly about this using the contact details on your letter.
During the visit, HMRC will work with you to correct any problems with your VAT. Afterwards, you’ll get confirmation on how to improve your records, along with the amounts of any overpayments, underpayments and penalties.
HMRC offers extra support to people whose health or personal circumstances make it difficult for them when getting in touch. This includes a whole range of areas, including physical, cognitive and sensory disabilities, like visual impairments or deafness. People experiencing abuse, mental health problems and financial hardship, such as being unable to afford food or rent, are also entitled to extra support.
You can opt for this over the phone or via HMRC’s webchat by asking to speak to the extra support team. They can provide information in different formats or languages, support you to fill in forms, give you more time or find someone to speak to HMRC on your behalf. They may also be able to visit you at home if needed.
Mr Barton said: “The only way tax debt can be written off is via certain formal insolvency procedures. One of these is a company voluntary arrangement, or CVA, which in its simplest terms functions as a payment plan between an indebted company and its creditors, including HMRC.
“It is often the case that some proportion of the company’s liabilities will be written off as part of the terms of the CVA, with the rest being repaid via a series of monthly instalments over a period of three to five years.
“HMRC is only likely to agree to this, and therefore writing off some of the remaining balance, if it believes it will be able to recover more of the debt this way than if the business were instead liquidated. A company will continue to trade while in a CVA, so the business must have a realistic chance of succeeding in the long-term.
“If the business stands no chance of survival, placing an insolvent company into liquidation will result in all debt which cannot be repaid using company assets, including what’s owed to HMRC, dying with the company. While liquidation may be a way of erasing HMRC tax arrears, it’s not a suitable option for those companies which wish to continue trading.”
It depends which tax you have to pay and the reason you have not paid.
If you get a time to pay arrangement, it will clearly outline how long you have to pay because it will show you when payments are due. An agreement of longer than 12 months is unusual.
If you have refused to pay, or broken your time to pay agreement, you will get a formal demand and a due date. After this point, the consequences can be severe.
However, if you are appealing a tax decision, you may be able to delay paying any tax or penalties until your appeal is settled.
If you owe money, HMRC will generally let you know when it’s due. If you’re unsure, contact them to ask.
You can appeal against tax you don’t think you should pay. If HMRC agrees, they will amend how much you owe.
However, if you simply refuse to pay and don’t enter into dialogue, the penalties can include bankruptcy or having your company forced to shut down.
Tax that is correctly calculated can only be written off through insolvency processes. A time to pay arrangement, for instance, will not lower the amount you owe or excuse you from any future tax payments.
Mr Arnold said: “If a tax debt is final, HMRC will not normally waive the payment due. In most circumstances, it is a case of agreeing a payment plan with them.”
Tax fraud, where someone deliberately tries to avoid paying tax by concealing, omitting or misrepresenting information, or falsely presenting information or circumstances, is very serious. This might be through hiding income, lying on a tax return or smuggling taxable goods, among other things. You can go to prison for this.
There are various phone numbers for HMRC, depending on your query. You might be able to get from one to the other without hanging up, but to save time it’s worth looking for the right number.