XFool wrote:Revisiting the OP, in light of recent events:
JohnB wrote:I tried to login in to the Government Gateway to do Mum's self assessment tax return, as I have the last few years. This time it asks for 2 extra security items, passport (nope) and credit check (no credit history), and no alternative. 55 minutes on the phone to HMRC and they refuse to help or give daft suggestions, suggesting she completes a paper return. How can I fight this?
(she has pre-paid the tax, by my calculation she is owed a £12 refund)
Hang on...
Could we be seeing the shape of a possible answer here?
The OP was trying to do somebody
else's tax SA online - albeit his mums. Also, she was owed a
refund - needs to be paid to a bank account. This involves details of
personal information.
As described in other places, HMRC now does require further, additional security information inside the Personal Tax Account where access to, or changes to, personal information inside the online account is involved. Such as bank details for paying refunds or simply accessing personal information while online.
https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.p ... 36#p504536
https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.p ... 82#p504882
HMRC do seem to be tightening up identity security inside the online Personal Tax Account. Presumably to help protect against account hijacking.
There is also a warming about not divulging your GG login details on the login page.
I doubt if that has anything to do with it. I was logging in via Govt. Gateway on my own computer to start doing my own return, received the security code and typed it in and was then asked to choose extra security questions which I couldn't answer. I didn't know and nor could they have at that stage whether I owed them any tax or they owed me a rebate. I raised a complaint (after having an unsatisfactory conversation with someone at HMRC) and eventually was sent a paper return and given extra time to complete it. As mentioned either earlier here or another thread, I sent it by express delivery, enclosing a cheque for a sum which should have been more than sufficient to cover any tax due. The cheque has been debited to my bank acct. but I have nonetheless received a letter saying that they have given me a penalty of £100 for being late and telling me I must do a return (preferably on-line
![Rolling Eyes :roll:](./images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif)
) whether I owe any tax or not, despite having told me sometime last year that I didn't need to do a return, which I couldn't understand as I have quite a few share holdings, including some certificated ones, whose income has varied considerably in recent years.
Needless to say, I have contacted the complaints dept. again and received an assurance that the penalty will be cancelled and the matter looked into, though I haven't yet received the promised confirmatory email. I said he ought to report the situation to whoever is responsible for setting up this extra security as it is causing difficulty for a lot of elderly people. My guess is that when they sent the letters to people saying they didn't need to submit a return in the future, their online accounts were cancelled and they were treated like new registrations. Maybe first timers all do get asked the extra security questions but nobody I know who has been filing online for some time is ever asked them despite HMRC trying to tell us that everyone now has to answer these questions which are irrelevant and unanswerable in many cases, especially as a P60 doesn't help unless you are actually employed. As in many of the large organisations in this country now, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and systems and programmes are set up by incompetents. It is beyond belief that they can't ask you about your UK driving licence because DVLA can't provide the answers or that they can't ask questions which old people could answer.
I really don't see the need for extra security questions anyway. If they are sending the security code to the same phone no, and any refunds to the same bank acct. as previously, what is there to fear? I can't think it would be worth a fraudster's while to hack accounts in the hope of getting a small rebate directed to their own account.
I suggest John B. should make a complaint. If enough of us do it, maybe they will eventually get their act together and come up with a system that works for everyone. I should mention that the same thing happened to me the previous year, though I had filed my return without problems in previous years) and I said then that I hoped the problem would have been solved by the time it came to doing the next year's return. I would like to get the 2021-22 return done a.s.a.p. but would prefer to do it online so I hope they sort it soon. Will keep you posted if I learn anything of interest.