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Terms and conditions

Terms of Use

When signing up to use the HMRC Community Forums, users must agree to the following Terms of Use of the HMRC Community Forums (herein after referred to as ‘Forums’).

Responsibility for Contributions

If you place comments, posts or share material on the Forums, or otherwise make (or allow any third party to make) material available by means of the Forums (any such material, "Content"), you are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content. That is the case regardless of whether the Content in question constitutes text, graphics, an audio file, or computer software.

By making Content available, you represent and warrant that:

  1. the downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party;
  2. if your employer has rights to intellectual property you create, you have either (i) received permission from your employer to post or make available the Content, including but not limited to any software, or (ii) secured from your employer a waiver as to all rights in or to the Content;
  3. you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through any required terms to anyone else who accesses the Content;
  4. the Content does not contain or install any viruses, worms, malware, Trojan horses or other harmful or destructive content;
  5. the Content is not spam, is not machine - or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing);
  6. the Content is not pornographic, libellous or defamatory, does not contain threats or incite violence towards individuals or entities, and does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party;

By submitting Content to the Forums you agree that:

  1. HMRC can use that Content on the Forums, and may also amend that Content.
  2. this Content may be used by Government for purposes including but not limited to publication of consultations.
  3. if you request Content to be deleted from the Forums, we will use reasonable efforts to remove it from the Forums, but you acknowledge that references to the Content or the Content itself may not be made immediately unavailable.

As a user you agree to any information you have entered above being stored in a database. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent the webmaster, administrator and moderators cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised.

Without limiting any of those representations or warranties, we have the right (though not the obligation) to, in our sole discretion.

  • refuse or remove any Content that, in our reasonable opinion, breaches our moderation policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or
  • terminate or deny access to and use of the Forums to any individual or entity for any reason, in our sole discretion.

Responsibility of Forum Users

HMRC cannot review all of the material posted to the Forums, and cannot therefore be responsible for that material's content, use or effects. By operating the Forums, we do not represent or imply that we endorse the material there posted, or that we believe such material to be accurate, useful or non-harmful. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content. Despite our efforts, the Forums may contain content that is offensive, indecent, or otherwise objectionable, as well as content containing technical inaccuracies, typographical mistakes, and other errors. The Forums may also contain material that violates the privacy or publicity rights, or infringes the intellectual property and other proprietary rights, of third parties, or the downloading, copying or use of which is subject to additional terms and conditions, stated or unstated. HMRC disclaim any responsibility for any harm resulting from the use by visitors to the Forums, or from any downloading by those visitors of Content there posted.

Content Posted on Other Websites

It is not our policy to publish comments which contain links to third party websites, nor is it usual for us to link to anything other than GOV.UK guidance in our own posts.

However, should links to third party websites appear in any Forum posts (in the original post, in a reply from HMRC, or in a comment from another forum member), HMRC does not accept responsibility for the content of those websites, nor from any harm resulting from the use of such websites by Forum members. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content.

Any references or links to third party websites on the Forums do not imply endorsement or recommendation by HMRC. 

HMRC is not responsible for the content of any website or software platform that links to any of the Forums from outside.

Intellectual Property

If you believe that material located on or linked to by the Forums breaches your or a third party's copyright, you are encouraged to notify HMRC. HMRC will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material. In the case of a visitor who may infringe or repeatedly infringes the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of ours or others, HMRC may, in our sole discretion, terminate or deny access to and use of the Forums.

These Terms of Use do not transfer to you any intellectual property rights in the Forums, and all rights, title and interest in and to such property which is vested in HMRC will remain vested in HMRC. Other intellectual property such as trademarks, graphics and logos used in the Forums may be the intellectual property of other third parties. In making contributions to the Forums you agree that HMRC will have the right to reproduce your comments and may or may not acknowledge their source.

Changes

HMRC reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace any part of these Terms of Use. It is your responsibility to check them periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to the Forums following the posting of any changes to these Terms of Use constitutes acceptance of those changes. HMRC may also, in the future, offer new services and/or features through the Forums (including, the release of new tools and resources). Such new features and/or services shall be subject to these Terms of Use.

Termination

HMRC may terminate your access to all or any part of the Forums at any time, for any reason, with or without notice, effective immediately.

Disclaimer of Warranties

The Forums are provided "as is". HMRC, and its suppliers hereby excludes all warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, satisfactory quality, and fitness for a particular purpose. Neither HMRC, nor its suppliers makes any warranty that the Forums will be error free or that access thereto will be continuous or uninterrupted.

General Representation and Warranty

You represent and warrant that your use of the Forums will:

  • be in strict accordance with the Moderation Policy, these Terms of Use and with all applicable laws and regulations
  • not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

Miscellaneous

These Terms of Use and the Moderation Policy and HMRC Community Forums Privacy Notice constitute the entire agreement between HMRC and you concerning the use of the Forums.

Governing Law

Any disputes in connection with the Forums will be governed by the laws of England and Wales.

General Terms

Protecting your information

HMRC strongly recommend that you do not discuss the details of your financial affairs on these Forums, or provide any form of personal details.

HMRC have a duty to protect taxpayer confidentiality and so do not discuss the tax affairs of individual taxpayers over social media avenues. This means we will use these Forums to answer general, but not personal, queries. Where content is posted that contravenes this, we will endeavour to remove it wherever possible.

HMRC cannot accept messages through these Forums as notification in respect of your tax affairs, nor are we able to provide specific advice tailored to individual circumstances.  Contact us for help

HMRC does not send notifications of tax rebates via social media or by email, and will not ask you to disclose personal or payment information via social media or by email. If you receive such a message, do not respond - it is not from HMRC and may be malicious.

If you see an electronic message claiming to be from HMRC that you suspect may be fraudulent, please forward it by email to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk. To find more advice about online security from HMRC please visit https://www.gov.uk/topic/dealing-with-hmrc/phishing-scams

If you engage with HMRC via social media, for example by asking us a question or making a comment on these Forums, we may need to process your posting and the information it contains in order to respond.

For more information about how HMRC uses information see HMRC’s Privacy Policy.

Information provided by HMRC

HMRC’s engagement may include supplying information or answering questions. This engagement is intended as an informal channel which complements HMRC’s formal communications. It does not overwrite HMRC’s existing channels of communication or channels of accountability such as Parliament and Freedom of Information.

When HMRC post detailed information, HMRC will typically provide links to copies of the relevant material online. This is to provide assurance to readers that the material is genuine and comes from HMRC.

Information on these Forums, including information provided by HMRC, may be incorrect, out of context, out of date, or may not apply in all circumstances. Always check the official HMRC guidance.

Information provided by HMRC via these Forums is provided ‘as is’ and on the same basis as material on the HMRC website or GOV.UK. See  GOV.UK Terms and Conditions.

Social media sites may occasionally become unavailable. HMRC cannot accept responsibility for lack of service due to downtime.

Requests to de-register from the HMRC Community Forum

You can ask for your registration to be removed from the HMRC Community Forum. Use the Feedback function to ask to be removed from the HMRC Community Forum. You’ll need to state whether you wish to:

  • remove your access to the forum but retain any content you’ve submitted, or
  • remove your access and all content you’ve submitted.

How long we keep your data

We will only retain your personal data for as long as it is needed for the purposes set out in this document or for as long as the law requires us to. We will:

  • keep your data until you unsubscribe
  • routinely remove or archive data in line with data retention processes
  • periodically review inactive accounts to check whether you wish to retain access

HMRC Moderation Policy

The HMRC Community Forums allow you to post comments that will remain viewable on this website. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) therefore operates a moderation policy to ensure that comments are appropriate and not harmful to others. The site, and the comments posted, are regularly moderated by HMRC staff. HMRC reserves the right to remove any posts that contravene this moderation policy.

When posting comments, please observe our participation ‘house rules’:

  1. Do not post personal information in comments such as addresses, phone numbers, email addresses or other online contact details, which may identify you or other individuals.if you have a query about your specific tax situation, please use the other existing communication routes to discuss these types of issues by visiting ( https://www.gov.uk/contact-hmrc).
  2. Be respectful of others who use the site.
  3. Do not submit any comments that are unlawful, harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually orientated or racially offensive. This includes comments that are offensive to others with regards to religion, gender, nationality or other personal characteristic.
  4. Do not break the law (this includes libel, condoning illegal activity, contempt of court or posting comments which contain someone else’s copyright material).
  5. Do not use comments for party political purposes.
  6. Do not impersonate or falsely claim to represent a person or an organisation.
  7. Do not make any commercial endorsement or promotion of any product, service or publication.
  8. Do not post comments which contain links to third party websites.
  9. Do not post comments designed to cause nuisance to the administrator or other users along with these guidelines
  10. Do not spam or flood the forum. Only submit a comment once. Do not resubmit the same, or similar, comments. Keep the number of comments you submit on a topic at a reasonable level. Multiple comments from the same individual, or a small number of individuals, may discourage others from contributing.We encourage open, lively debate but comments that violate any of the above rules will be removed.

We value your time and input, and our desire is to remove as few posts as possible while ensuring that a focused, constructive discussion takes place.

This moderation policy is subject to change to address additional matters as may be warranted.

If you have a complaint about an item of user-generated content on this site, or feel that your own content was removed in error, please contact us.

Participation by HMRC staff

HMRC staff will, where appropriate, contribute to the online discussion. However, please be aware that:

  • we are bound by the Civil Service Code, and cannot engage on issues of party politics
  • we cannot comment on the likely policy outcome of any consultation
  • we are bound by HMRC’s rules on customer confidentiality and so cannot answer customer-specific questions on this site

Therefore, we may not be able to respond to every comment, even if a direct question is asked.

However, we will generally participate in discussions in order to:

  • answer any direct questions, subject to the restrictions above
  • correct any factual inaccuracies, or provide some detail that may aid the discussion
  • keep the discussion on topic
  • explain any policy details that users are unsure of

This input is to ensure the smooth and efficient working of the Forums and should not be read as a formal government response to any consultation.

Freedom of Information

The Information you provide to the online forum will be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which allows public access to information held by HMRC. This does not necessarily mean that information about you in addition to what is published on the forum will be made available to the public as there are exemptions relating to information provided in confidence and the Data Protection Act 1998 will also apply to protect information supplied.