HMRC online is offering technical support with their digital assistant service. The HMRC digital assistant is free and provides a webchat service for anyone to use.
It is available for individuals who pay tax through both PAYE and self assessment. The service is very effective at finding answers to many of the popular queries that in the past HMRC has received via their customer phoneline.
If you can’t find the answer(s) you are searching for you can be connected through to a live HMRC advisor via an online webchat.
What can you ask the HMRC Digital Assistant?
You can ask the digital assistant anything tax related and it’s a good idea to be as specific as you can with your question to help the assistant narrow down the options it can provide first time.
HMRC Digital Assistant example:
Question: What is my national insurance number?
Webchat Answer:
You can find your National Insurance number:
online through your personal tax account
on a document you already have, for example a payslip or P60
by filling in form CA5403
If you have a personal tax account, sign in on desktop (opens in a new tab) or download the HMRC app (opens in a new tab).
From your account home screen, you can access your National Insurance number. You can also print a letter from HMRC if you need proof of your National Insurance number.
If you don’t have a personal tax account, you could get one by registering for Government Gateway (opens in a new tab).
Alternatively, fill in form CA5403 (opens in a new tab) and post it to the address on the form. It could take 15 working days for us to process and respond.
HMRC Digital Assistant review
The response from the HMRC digital assistant in our example is clear and informative and importantly shows that in a lot of cases you can avoid phoning HMRC.
An answer to all queries isn’t achievable with some tax matters of a more complex nature having to the talked through over the phone or in person.
That said HMRC does receive many of the same basic queries over the phone and that’s where the digital assistant gives real value to both the user and HMRC.
If more simple queries can be found through the use of the digital assistant it gives taxpayers a more convenient solution and saves HMRC valuable time spent on the phone.
To back up what we have found HMRC reported on the 9 February 2023 that the digital assistant helps over 50% of people find the information they are searching for.
Print or save your HMRC Digital Assistant chat
There is an option to print or save your chat so you can keep the information you need for a later date and don’t have to repeat your webchat.
No one likes losing what they have searched for online so this is a handy option to keep what you have found or even share it with someone with the same problem to save them time as well.
Do you have a question about your tax?
If you have a question about your tax position you now have an alternative way of finding the answer online.
So before you phone HMRC it might be a better choice to use the digital assistant first and then call HMRC if you need further support.
We make our tax guides and income tax FAQ sections available for free to anyone wanting to find out more about tax rebates and income tax in the UK.
