HM Revenue & Customs has sprung a cruel April fool trick on me and potentially millions of other self-employed citizens. Until now, it has operated a system called Gov.uk Verify which allows people to confirm their identity via the Post Office or Experian, using a driving licence or credit records. This was vital to enable those of us who don’t have a UK passport to access government services, including self-assessment tax accounts. HMRC now informs me that, from 1 April, I can no longer use my Gov.uk Verify account to sign in to HMRC digital services. Instead, I’ve been told to set up a “Government Gateway” account.
To do this, applicants have to have two items from a list of acceptable ID – a UK passport, pay slip, tax credit or a Northern Ireland driving licence. I don’t have any of these. When I called HMRC, an agent told me he was in the same situation. I was referred to the self-assessment team which was unaware of the change, and advised that I would have to revert to paper tax returns, which, the agent told me, was absurd as the government is trying to encourage all returns to be filed online.
LW, Todmorden
