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If youâve lost your HMRC log in user ID, donât panic. It happens to the best of us, but thereâs always a solution!
If you remember creating an account then the process will be familiar to you. But either way, read on for a detailed how-to guide.
All you need to do is request a new user ID. To do this, first you need to go to the HMRC services page.
Step one – complete. âď¸
But we wonât stop there. Weâll take you through the whole process so you know exactly what to do once youâre on the page.
Scroll down to âlost user ID or passwordâ. Click on ârecover your user IDâ. The same principle applies if youâve lost your password and even if youâve lost both your ID and password.
Now, HMRC like to make sure youâve double checked (even though we know youâve probably triple checked) your emails to look for your Government Gateway user ID. So when they ask, you can click on âNo, recover my user IDâ straight away.
Youâre then given the option to either enter the email address associated with the account or to click on the button to confirm youâve forgotten or canât access the email address.
If you do have your email address – woohoo! HMRC will email you a code which you then enter on the website. Once they know itâs you (and not an imposter) theyâll email you a new user ID.
If you click âI have forgotten or cannot access this email addressâ then youâll be taken to another page which asks for a little bit more information from you. Nothing complicated, donât worry.
First, theyâll ask what kind of account you have. In most cases, youâll need to select âIndividualâ if youâre looking to file your personal tax return.
Next youâll have to tell HMRC if youâve used any online tax service before:
In this case, HMRC will need more information about you. There are sometimes cases where you may have made an account a long time ago and then forgotten about it. Although itâs not the most common scenario, it happens.Â
If you do exist, theyâll be able to match the information you provide them with existing records from their database.
If HMRC canât find you then youâll be directed to creating a new user ID.
Click âContinueâ – itâs very straightforward.
If you have filed a tax return with HMRC before, the process is pretty simple because your information will already be on their database. Youâll need to provide the same information again and then select how you prefer to receive your user ID.
You can receive it online, usually via email, or by post.
Only select online if you have access to the email address you used the last time you filed. They will use the email thatâs already on the system.Â
Otherwise, you can choose to receive your ID by post. It does take longer to arrive, especially compared to doing it online. Usually, it takes around 14 days.
And then youâre finally at the last step! Click âsubmitâ and youâre done. Phew đ
Check out our guide on how to recover your HMRC Government Gateway password.
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