Approximately 3.5 million people now use HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) online personal tax accounts, claims a report.
Having had just one million users in April, the report boasts a successful uptake of the online platform among personal tax payers.
The online tax accounts are part of the government’s Making Tax Digital campaign, which will see a complete digital overhaul of the current tax system.
The accounts had come under fire for lacking some essential features, but overall satisfaction of the new system is claimed to be above 70 per cent.
Online tax accounts are currently limited to seeing the progress of submissions, the expected level of state pension, registering for a paperless relationship with HMRC, changes affecting company cars, seeing how tax is calculated, claiming back tax due, tax credits service, child benefit, checking and changing address details, and national insurance.
But HMRC intends to add an end-of-year reconciliation and repayment service, and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) services in the near future.
“PAYE customers will be able to check they’ve paid the right amount of tax and if they’ve paid too much they can arrange a refund direct to their bank account within 3-5 working days. Much quicker than waiting for a payable order and having to pay it into their accounts themselves”, said HMRC.
Users can set up their own online tax account by visiting [https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account]