Informing HMRC about changes to your personal details
7 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 inform HMRC of a change of name or address?
Informing HMRC of changes to your personal details should be a simple matter, but as with so many things to do with your taxes, what you need to do all depends on your particular circumstances. And if you run a business or are involved in a business partnership, you will also need to look at changing your details for those business aspects of HMRC as well.
If you are informing HMRC of a change of address and you are paid through the PAYE system (as salary, wages or a pension), you can update your details through your personal tax account on the Government Gateway system. If you also have to file a Self Assessment tax return alongside your PAYE earnings, this will update your details for both HMRC services.
If you only pay tax through Self Assessment, you can update your details by logging on to your online account.
If you live abroad but need to inform HMRC of a change of address, you can use the online form on the HMRC website. If you are leaving the UK to live abroad you need to send form P85 to HMRC, unless you use the Self Assessment system, in which case you can inform HMRC through your Self Assessment form.
If you are a tax agent who submits Self Assessment tax returns and looks after the taxes of someone else, you can inform HMRC of a change of personal details for your client by using their online form.
To inform HMRC that you are changing your name, the process follows a similar path to changing your address details. If you are paid through the PAYE system you can update your details through the Government Gateway system – you will need a Government Gateway account as well as your National Insurance number. If you only use Self Assessment you can change your name details by logging into your online account. If you live abroad or if you are a tax agent, there are online forms on the HMRC website to enable to update name details. If you change gender, your name will automatically be changed.
Once you have informed HMRC, they will update your personal records for the following HMRC areas:
- National Insurance and Income Tax
- Tax credits and benefits, including Child Benefit if you are entitled to claim this
- Other HMRC services such as the Pension Service.
You should receive an email confirming your changes or otherwise, asking for more information. They may request legal documentation to support your name change, such as a marriage certificate or deed poll certificate.
How do you inform HMRC of changes to your income?
We’re sure you don’t need us to tell you the importance of keeping HMRC informed of any changes to your taxable income – if you don’t, you may either end up paying too much in tax, or pay too little and find yourself owing at the end of the tax year.
To inform HMRC of income changes, you can either call them on 0300 200 3300 (textphone 0300 200 3319) or you can log into your personal tax account on the Government Gateway and go to the ‘Tell us about a change’ section.
If you start or finish a job, or if there is a change in the money you receive from a job or pension, HMRC will already know about this through your employer or pension provider so there’s no need to tell them about these. You do need to inform HMRC about the following changes in your financial circumstances though:
- Any income you receive from a new source, maybe from self-employment or rental income
- Any job-based benefits you receive, such as a company car
- Any taxable benefits you receive, such as a State Pension, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Carer’s Allowance
- Any income you receive which is above your personal allowance
- Any money over £85,000 you receive from self-employment – if you get more than this amount you will need to register for VAT
- Any income you receive from an inheritance, such as property, cash or shares (so this would include share dividends or rental income from property)
- Any lump sums you receive from selling things that would be liable for Capital Gains Tax.
If there are any changes to your financial circumstances which would affect your tax credits, HMRC need to be informed. You can either do this online through your Government Gateway account, by calling 0345 300 3900 (textphone 0345 300 3909) or by writing to HMRC at:
Tax Credit Office
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1LR
If your husband wife or civil partner dies, you need to tell HMRC about any changes to your income. You can do this by calling them on 0300 200 3300 (textphone 0300 200 3319) or through your next Self Assessment tax return.
If you are self-employed and make Self Assessment ‘payments on account’ (these are payments towards your next tax bill that you make in advance), you should tell HMRC if you are expecting a large decrease in income because HMRC may decide to reduce your payments.
After you have informed HMRC of a change in income, there are a number of things that might happen depending on your circumstances. If you pay tax through the PAYE system, they may make a change to your tax code and write to inform you of this. If you use the Self Assessment system, they may ask you to send a tax return so that they can check whether you owe any additional tax and send you a bill, or if you have paid too much tax, they may send you a tax refund.
How do you inform HMRC of any relationship or family changes?
As well as informing HMRC of any name, address or income changes, you also need to inform them of any changes to your relationship or family circumstances. So, if you get married or enter into a civil partnership, or if you divorce, separate or stop living with your husband, wife or partner, HMRC Need to know.
If you are paid through the PAYE system, you can inform HMRC online using your Government Gateway account. You will also need your National Insurance number to hand. You need to inform HMRC as soon as possible or it may affect the amount of tax you owe. If you get paid through PAYE and also send a Self Assessment form, this will update both of those services.
If you receive Child Benefit or tax credits, you will need to inform HMRC separately. For tax credits, you can either update your details online, call them on 0345 300 3900 (textphone 0345 300 3909) or you can write to them at:
Tax Credit Office,
HM Revenue and Customs,
BX9 1LR
For Child Benefit, you need to inform the Child Benefit Office by calling 0300 200 3100 (textphone 0300 200 3103) or by writing to them at:
HM Revenue and Customs – Child Benefit Office
PO Box 1
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE88 1AA
If your husband, wife or civil partner dies, you need to inform HMRC. You can use the GOV.UK ‘Tell Us Once’ service, which means that you don’t have to inform each government service in turn but instead, just inform them one time and they take care of it from there. If you are using this service, you will need to have the following details about the deceased to hand:
- Date of birth
- National Insurance number
- Driving licence number (if applicable)
- Vehicle registration number (if applicable)
- Passport number (if applicable)
- Details of any benefits they were getting (such as State Pension)
- Details of any local council services they received (such as a Blue Badge)
- The name and address of their next of kin as well as of any surviving spouse or civil partner
- The name, address and contact details of the executor of their estate (the person who is going to deal with their will)
- Details of any public sector or armed forces pensions they were getting
How do you inform HMRC if you change gender?
HMRC is usually informed automatically when you legally change gender by applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate, but when you apply you need to inform your employer at the same time so they can update your National Insurance and payroll records.
HMRC will then update its records with your new gender and any accompanying name change and they will also inform the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). They will also restrict your records so that only specialist staff at HMRC and the DWP can access them. They will also hand your tax affairs over to the Public Department 1 at HMRC and from this point on, you will need to contact them if you have any queries about your tax or National Insurance affairs. You can contact Public Department 1 by calling them on 03000 534730 or by writing to them at the following address:
HMRC
Public Department 1
Ty-Glas
Llanishen
Cardiff
CF14 5QZ
If you wish, you can inform HMRC yourself about your gender change by writing to Special Section D. You can inform them about your legal gender change or about your name change, if you haven’t legally changed your gender. You can also inform them if you don’t want your records to be restricted. You should include your National Insurance number as well as your original Gender Recognition Certificate (if youhave legally changed gender). Write to them at:
HMRC
Special Section D
Room BP9207
Benton Park View
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
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.
This page was last updated on 25/10/2018.