The Personal Tax Account (PTA) lets people check and manage their tax affairs. It was launched in November 2015 and HMRC reports that over 14m people accessed their account in the last tax year (2020/21). That saw a 21% increase in PTA sessions compared to 2019/20, with over 53m user sessions.
If you have not already set up a PTA, here are some reasons why you might find it useful:
- Check your state pension and history of National Insurance contributions
In your PTA you can see your National Insurance record which counts towards your state pension. You can see how many qualifying years you have recorded and if there are any gaps. HMRC report that the ‘Check your State Pension’ service is popular in the account with more than one million sessions per month.  If there are errors it is simple to write to HMRC to have these corrected.
- Avoid queuing on helplines
There are many simple tasks that can be completed quickly and easily online via the PTA. This avoids queuing on HMRC helplines which continue to be very busy because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Basic tasks include changing your address or confirming and printing your National Insurance number. It is also possible to claim tax reliefs such as marriage allowance and keep track of your applications for reliefs or allowances online.
- Report a change in circumstances for tax credits
For those within tax credits, it is possible to report changes of circumstances quickly and easily to HMRC through the PTA to ensure that you receive the correct amount of tax credits and do not end up running up over or underpayments as your circumstances change.
- Check your PAYE details
For those with employment income, you can use the PTA to check the details of your employment(s), pension(s) and other income information which HMRC holds and correct anything that is wrong. It is also possible to view details of how your tax code has been worked out. You can also claim tax relief for home working, which will be relevant for a lot more people as a result of the pandemic.
If you’ve sold UK property since 6 April 2020 you must report and pay any Capital Gains Tax due on it within 30 days. You cannot report it through your personal tax account.
To set up your personal tax account go to https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account.