Informing HMRC about changes to your business
5 mins
Our experts at DSR Tax Refunds know how hard it is to find good, quality information about HMRC’s tax regulations that is easy to understand, and that’s why we have created these handy guides to tell you everything you need to know. Our aim is to make life easier for our clients and that is why we want to share our expertise with you. You can also call our friendly team on 0330 122 9972 – we’re the tax experts you can trust.
How do you make a change to your name or address details?
It’s really important to keep HMRC informed if you change any of your personal or business details – so if you have changed your name or your business name, or your personal or trading address, you need to inform HMRC.
If you want to inform them about changes to your personal details for other tax-related matters, such as Income Tax, National Insurance, Child Benefit, tax credits or student loans, you need to use a different method – this guide only looks at changes related to your business.
You need to make sure that you have updated your details for each of the schemes and taxes you are registered for, including:
- Self Assessment
- VAT (HMRC must be informed of any changes within 30 days)
- CIS (Construction Industry Scheme), if you are a member
- PAYE for employers, if applicable
- Corporation Tax (if you are changing these details, you need to ensure you have informed Companies House before you inform HMRC).
For all of these schemes, with the exception of CIS, you can update your details using your Government Gateway account – this includes your correspondence address and payroll details if you employ other people.
You can’t update any details relating to your CIS registration using your Government Gateway account. To update these details, you need to contact HMRC on 0300 200 3210 (Textphone 0300 200 3219) or write to them at:
National Insurance Contributions and Employers Office
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AN
There are other ways to inform HMRC of changes to your business-related details if you don’t want to use the Government Gateway service:
- If you are self-employed or in a business partnership, you can write to the address on the most recent correspondence you have received from HMRC or you can call the Income Tax helpline on 0300 200 3300 (textphone 0300 200 3319)
- For changes to Corporation Tax details, you can write to your Corporation Tax Office (you will find address details on any recent tax forms or letters from HMRC) or you can call the Corporation Tax helpline on 0300 200 3410.
- For PAYE changes, you can either call the HMRC Employer helpline on 0300 200 3200 (textphone 0300 200 3212) or you can write to: National Insurance Contributions and Employers Office, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1BX
What about informing HMRC of changes to your business?
There are certain changes to your business that HMRC must be informed of. We’ll go through each of them and explain what you need to do if you make any changes like these to your business.
Changing your business’s legal structure
You need to inform HMRC of any changes to the legal structure of your business, so if you become a limited company or set up a partnership, HMRC have to be informed.
Similarly, if you stop being self-employed or close down a limited company, HMRC need to know about these kinds of changes too. You can use your Government Gateway account to inform HMRC of changes to your self-employment status. You will also need to make sure you complete your Self Assessment tax returns for your final year of self-employment or trading as a limited company.
If you are closing a registered partnership, the nominated partner needs to report this fact on the final partnership tax return.
Making changes to your business partnership
Unless your partnership is VAT-registered, you don’t need to inform HMRC that a partner is joining or leaving the partnership. If a partner is leaving, they will still have to complete a Self Assessment tax return for the tax year in which they leave.
However, if your partnership is VAT-registered, you need to inform HMRC if a partner is joining or leaving within 30 days or you risk receiving a fine. You need to download and complete form VAT2 to make changes to partner details.
If a partner dies or is made bankrupt and the partnership only consists of 2 partners, the partnership will be automatically dissolved and the remaining partner will need to re-register for Self Assessment as a sole trader. If there are more than 2 partners, the partnership will dissolve unless you have agreed otherwise as a partnership. If the nominated partner dies, the partnership needs to nominate another partner and HMRC must be informed of this as soon as possible. If you fail to inform HMRC, HMRC will nominate a partner and that partner will then be responsible for completing any outstanding partnership tax returns.
You can inform HMRC of any of these changes by calling the Self Assessment helpline on 0300 200 3310 (textphone 0300 200 3319).
Employing staff
As soon as you employ staff or start using subcontractors, you need to inform HMRC and register as an employer. You need to do this before the first payday. You can register online on the GOV.UK website. It will tell you if you need to register (this depends on who you are employing and how much you are paying them).
VAT Changes
There are certain things that might affect your VAT registration or may even mean you have to register for VAT in the first instance. These changes include changes to your turnover, your main business activity or your membership of a VAT group. If you make any changes, you need to inform HMRC within 30 days or they may issue you with a fine or penalty. You can keep your VAT details up to date using HMRCs online service.
If you are registered for VAT and you change your bank details, you must give HMRC at least 14 days’ notice.
If you are registered as an importer or exporter and have an EORI number, you need to inform the EORI team if you change any details such as your status as a VAT trader (if you register or de-register for VAT) as well as any changes to your registration details (such as your company name or address or VAT number). You can inform the EORI team of any changes by using HMRC’s online EORI service.
If you wish to appoint someone to handle your tax affairs
You need to inform HMRC if you are authorising someone to look after your tax or VAT affairs on your behalf.
If you are closing down or selling your business
You need to inform HMRC if you are closing down your limited company, selling your business or if you intend to stop being self-employed.
You can inform HMRC that you are no longer self-employed by using their online service. You will still need to complete your Self Assessment tax return for the tax year in which you stop being self-employed
If you are closing your limited company, how you inform HMRC depends on whether the business is solvent (which means it can pay its bills) or insolvent. You also have the option of leaving your business ‘dormant’ as long as it isn’t continuing any business activity or receiving any income.
You can inform HMRC that you are selling your business by using their online form. This will allow them to deal with that sale in terms of Self Assessment as well as National Insurance.
How can DSR Tax Refunds help?
We aim to make life as simple as possible for our clients and that includes giving you the information you need to make your taxes (and your life) simpler and less stressful. Our team of experts at DSR Tax Refunds are always on hand to help our clients and our excellent standing with HMRC means that we can make sure you don’t fall foul of their regulations, while claiming your maximum tax relief. We can even take care of all that paperwork and deal with HMRC on your behalf too. Call our friendly team on 0330 122 9972 – we’re the tax experts you can trust.
This page was last updated on 25/10/2018.