Tax Office

I've had to ring them twice recently for a Gateway log-in issue. The first time I had a non-current PAYE ref for our business so had to ring back after finding another possible.
I could have been lucky but it only took approx 30 minutes for both calls, & did manage to get things sorted with only a moderate rise in my blood pressure.

After a recent bereavement I tried to log on with my Government Gateway Account.

The reply that I received said as I had not used it for several years I neede to re-register.

I have now done this and all is fine.

Write them a letter, that’s what I had to do after many frustrating attempts to speak to someone. They took a while to reply, about a month but got sorted eventually.

I can’t explain why you can’t log into your Gateway Account.

The usual procedure it to enter your 12 digit ID plus your password and they will do two-step authentication, sending you a security code to enter which should get you in.

Try emailing [email protected] stating your National Insurance number and explaining your issue. That's the HMRC Personal Tax Operations Complaints Team.

Like the rest of the Civil Service, staff cut backs have left services under-staffed and overworked. I’m told that the best time to ring is first thing in the morning.

I do tax returns for a small number of people and I usually don't need to log in - the main screen has a list of all the people I deal with and all I need to do it choose the right reference number (16 digits, I think) and everything else comes up automatically.

The tax office is a mystery to itself. My DH has had the same issues as yourself in getting through to them. Despite him having a letter from them saying he didn’t owe anything a letter arrived in the post this week saying he owed them £1,600 part of which was a fine for late payment. As I say how they operate (or don’t ) is a mystery. I feel along with NHS England this is another department that needs an overdue overhaul.


I can sympathise with you and hope you get it sorted.