Engaging with the taxman is hardly anyone’s favourite task. This, however, might be changing thanks to a revamped HMRC app that allows users in the UK to check their income and how much tax they need to pay.
In the HMRC app, you can see details about your job and salary and how much income tax, tax-free amount and take-home pay are calculated. You can also renew your tax credits. The HMRC tax calculator tells you how much National insurance and income tax you need to pay for the tax year 2019 – 2020
Since 2016, the app has been downloaded by 3 million people and has over half a million users using it every month. A new feature now allows users to pay their self-assessment tax, using open banking technology.
Simplifying tax services
The new feature supporting payments directly from the APP is part of HMRC’s strategy to meet user needs by providing the best channel for users, says Hawkesworth. Inspired by commercial banking apps (according to the latest figures, 76% of people in the UK use online banking), the Pay by bank the option lets users settle any dues with HMRC from their banking app with all details pre-populated.
“This massively reduces the risk of making a mistake when paying your tax bill and means the users can trust that the money is going to the right place,” explains Hawksworth
behind the popularity of this government app is its simplicity and accessibility. As Hawkesworth stresses, the app must work for everyone without the need for instructions.
