Forthcoming changes to HMRC’s agent authorisation materials
HMRC has informed us about some changes they are planning to make to three of their GOV.UK pages on agent authorisation, and to the letter that is sent to clients when authorisation is requested via the Online Agent Authorisation route.
HMRC are making these changes to make it clearer to taxpayers what their agent can do on their behalf once they authorise them, as they are concerned that it is not always clear to them, and this is causing complaints and misunderstandings. The changes are likely be going live at the end of October.
The GOV.UK pages affected are:
| GOV.UK page | What will change? |
| Authorise a tax agent (64-8) | Under the ‘Self-Assessment’ heading, HMRC will add: 1. Two bullet points at the top of the list of what your agent can do: - submit tax returns on your behalf 2. A line clarifying the taxpayer responsibilities: If your agent submits your tax return, you must check the information and let your agent know it is correct, before they submit it to us. You are responsible for your own tax affairs, even if you authorise someone to act on your behalf. |
| Authorise an agent for taxes that use the digital handshake | Under the ‘3. Respond to the authorisation request from your agent’ heading, HMRC will add: If you authorise your agent for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, they can submit your Self-Assessment tax returns on your behalf. You must check the information in your tax return is correct and let your agent know, before they submit it to us. You are responsible for your own tax affairs, even if you authorise someone to act on your behalf. |
| Appoint someone to deal with HMRC on your behalf | Under ‘Authorise an agent to handle your tax affairs’ heading, after the paragraph starting ‘if you’re an agent’ HMRC will add: Depending on what you’ve authorised your agent to do on your behalf, they’ll be able to deal with your tax affairs, for example submitting your Self-Assessment tax return. |
The revised letter can be found here.
If you have any queries or comments regarding these changes, please send them to [email protected].