Cannot verify my identity - what can I do?

Hi Kuldeep Singh,
For assistance you will need to contact the online helpdesk. 
Contact details here:
Technical support with HMRC online services
Thank you. 

Hi, my name, date of birth, NI number does not match hmrc records. I’m near state pension age and had the same name, date of birth and NI number for ever. Why doesn’t hmrc recognise me?

Hi M8 SN,
Contact us by webchat or phone here:
Income Tax: general enquiries- We can then confirm if any overpayment is due for the years specified, and issue this out to you if you are unable to claim online.
For problems with verifying your identity, your log in details or receiving access codes, click on the ‘Get help’ or ‘Is there anything wrong with this page’ link at the bottom of the page in the online service you’re using, or contact our Online Services here:
Technical support with HMRC online services
Thank you. 

I’ve been helping a friend to set up a personal tax account to see the reason for why HMRC thinks they need to pay a small amount of tax through PAYE. The letter informing them of this plus the new tax code does not give enough information and hopefully by accessing the account it might be possible to work out the reason. They were able to get a Gov Gateway ID, but anything more required the use of the verification process. They entered the driving licence information and then went onto the random questions. On the first time of trying, they got the question "when did you last take out or renew a personal mobile phone contract?" This might be not the exact wording, but I had the same question some years ago and had a lot of trouble with it. They entered what they thought was the correct answer but it failed verification. On another attempt, the contract question wasn't there and they passed verification. As I recall, when I had trouble with Gov Verify, there wasn't an opportunity to try with different questions. Eventually, one of the digital managers went through the questions with me and confirmed that the process was failing at the phone contract question. I had taken out what I thought was a new phone contract in 2018 with BT. Eventually out of frustration, I entered that I had never taken out a mobile phone contract which turned out to be the correct answer. So either the information held by the credit rating agency was wrong or paying BT monthly direct debit payments for a SIM only arrangement was not a contract. Unlike many other random question security systems, HMRC does not allow the user to choose questions that they know the answer to. Instead, the HMRC system asks questions that someone thinks the user might reasonably know the answer to. Some of those questions can be many years old. What I would like to know is what in HMRCs terms is the definition of a mobile phone contract and if this type of question is going to arise, wouldn't it be more helpful if there was an attached piece of information of what is required? i.e. in this case, what defines a mobile phone contract? If my user had failed again, what would their options have been? A final question In the verification process there are two parts, the driving licence or P60? Part and the random questions. If the user failed at the initial DL or P60 stage, would there be an indication that that stage had failed or would they be allowed to proceed to the random question stage and not know where it might have failed?

Hi Georgeopara

If you are unable to verify your identity onine then you will need to contact HMRC to review the refund Self Assessment: general enquiries

Thank you

Hi, im trying to incorporate a company but don't have a passport or driving license. I do have pass citizen id. Why is this not accepted if it is a government approved form of id??? Is there a way to resove this so I can move forward and create my company. Is it going to cost me more? Is there a helpline I can call? If so can you tell me the number? Thanks 

Name removed admin 

Hi Jacko,
While it might be that the NI number you've been using is incorrect, there are other possibilities. To allow us to confirm your record and resolve this for you, contact us by webchat or phone viaIncome Tax: general enquiries.
Thank you.

Hi Phil-S,
For assistance you will need to contact the online helpdesk Technical support with HMRC online services.
Thank you.

I am trying to help an elderly friend (92) whose husband has recently died. She has received a Notice of Coding to advise that she owes £275 from a prior year. She has not completed a return for many years - her only income is a state pension of less than £6000 and interest below £1000. The coding says to visit HMRC but whilst the NI number is available I cannot see that she has ever registered for the Gov Gateway and I cannot trace a UTR. She has no verifiable ID such as a passport or driving licence. What can she do to get access to the information that HRMC are using to suggest underpaid tax?

Hi Jacques,

For assistance you would need to contact our online helpdesk.

Technical support with HMRC online services

Thank you.

Hi John Tulloch,
If you are not able to set up an online account then you would need to contact HMRC to review the underpayment.
Income Tax: general enquiries
Thank you. 

Why does your site not recognise my name DOB and NI number ? Says it's wrong and.i know it's all right How do I speak to someone ?

Hi,
You will need to contact our online support team , please see the link below-
Technical support with HMRC online services
Thank you.

Hi there, I have been trying to create a tax account - I was advised to create a new account as I have lost access to my id and government gateway number and have changed email address I have managed to create a new account with you but am unable to verify my identity. How can I create an account and get my identity verified please can you advise?

Hi Ana23,
For assistance you will need to contact the online helpdesk: Technical support with HMRC online services.
Thank you.

Hi there, I am currently on an emergency tax code which needs fixing ASAP. I can log-in to Government Gateway with no problem, however when I enter my number, date of birth and NI number I keep getting a "we cannot confirm your identity" message. I have called up the HMRC helpline and they weren't able to verify me either, which is strange as my name, birth date and NI number have never changed in my life so I can't understand how it could possibly be wrong. I don't know where to go from here, can anyone please give me advice on who can help me? Thanks!

Hi SILU DUNGJAN TAMANG,
For assistance to get online you will need to contact the online helpdesk: Technical support with HMRC online services.
You can also contact the PAYE helpline to review your tax code Income Tax: general enquiries.
Thank you.

Hi there, I have the same problem like others, I can login to the Government gateway, but i cannot pass the identification check using my UK driving license. I am holding a foreign country passport which put my name in one line only (which means it didn't separate family name and given name), and we put our family name in front of given name which is different from UK usually put family name at the back. In my UK driving license, my full name was shown in one line same as my passport in line 1 (Surname) and leave line 2 (given name) blank. However when I input my personal data in the HMRC apps for identification check, I must put it in 2 lines and not allow to leave blank which leads the system cannot verify when I uploaded my UK license (data not matched!). I tried to send email to Online support but they replied it is not a technical problem and asked me dont send to them again. I tried to call the helpline and they said they cannot do the identification check on phone. I tried to request a face to face meeting with HMRC but they replied said i am not having special needs so they cannot arrange the visit. Asking in this forum is my last hope and i want to solve it ASAP, i cannot get the child public funding because i cannot generate the code from HMRC, I cannot assess my tax declaration and I cannot do anything related tax. I read some old posts saying can send all the documents to a postal address for verification, I am happy to do it and I got all the documents ready, appreciated if you can provide the latest postal address and let me know what kind of documents I need to send (photocopy or original?) I have been transferred around different departments within HMRC and hope I can find the ultimate solution here, thank you very much!

Hi I’ve been trying to verify my identity however it won’t allow me to only use my Provisional Licence as a form of identification. I live in Northern Ireland and have an Irish passport but it requires a UK passport in order for me to use it as identification. What do I do?

I have lived in Portugal for 10 years, I have a UK passport, I also HAD a UK driving licence which I swapped for a Portuguese one as we are residents here. As for a mobile phone contract, I never had one in the UK! I have already written to GOV.UK but the answer I received was of no help whatsoever. They have a phone number to contact them on if you live OUTSIDE the UK, so why don't they have a SEPARATE page for UK nationals living OUTSIDE the UK? I can provide my Portuguese Driving Licence, my Portuguese Residency Card, both of which have photo I.D. I have a UK Passport, I have my UK N.I. Number, UK Birth Certificate, my UK Marriage Certificate. Without the Driving Licence or record of a Mobile Phone Contract how can anyone be expected to access the GOV.UK site? NOT everyone has any of the three requested forms of I.D. people have to providec on the GOV.UK site. It is very limited and I personally believe it was shortsighted of the people who designed this format in the first place as so many people CANNOT access the GOV.UK website as this community group's comments show!