Taxpayer’s Charter

The Taxpayers’ Charter outlines your rights and explains what you can expect in all your dealings with HMRC.

Your obligations

What we expect of you as your HMRC Agent:

Be truthful

We expect you to:

give us the correct information and act within the law
give us all the relevant facts and circumstances
answer questions accurately, completely, and honestly.

Keep records

We expect you to:

keep good records in English as required by law
keep records for six years.

Take reasonable care

We expect you to:

meet your obligations
be responsible for correct information, even if an agent is representing you.

Provide all information on time

We expect you to:

provide all information and business records on time to us.

Be cooperative

We expect you to:

treat HMRC with the same courtesy, consideration, and respect HMRC is expected to give you.

Your rights

What you can expect from HMRC

Fair and reasonable
HMRC will treat you with courtesy and respect and take your circumstances into account where relevant.

Honest
HMRC will treat you as being honest and give you an opportunity to explain any discrepancies to work with you to get tax right.

Professional service and assistance
HMRC will:

provide services that that are designed around what you need to do, and are accessible, easy, and quick to use, minimising the cost to you.
answer your questions and resolve things first time, or as quickly as they can. HMRC will also explain what happens next and when you can expect a response from them
make sure you are dealing with an authorised HMRC agent who can help.

Representation
You can get help with your affairs and someone to deal with us on your behalf, such as an HMRC agent, but you must authorise them to represent you. You are still responsible for ensuring the information given to HMRC is accurate.

Privacy and Confidentiality
HMRC will protect information they hold about you and treat it as private and confidential. HMRC will always use that information fairly and lawfully.

Information access
HMRC will:

update your information when you ask them to
give you access to information about you, if lawful
give you access to information that helps them make decisions.

Help
We aim to help you understand your rights and obligations. Contact us if you are unsure.

Decisions
When making decisions about you HMRC will:

inform you of your rights or obligations
keep you informed of their progress.

Your right to question
HMRC will outline your options if you want a decision or action reviewed including legal review rights and the formal complaint process. HMRC will:

try to resolve problems quickly and fairly
keep you informed of progress.

Accountability
HMRC will:

make your obligations and how to meet them easy to understand
inform you of your rights or obligations and keep you informed of their progress to resolve issues.