Using the HMRC app and your online account

The HMRC app is the tax authority's free mobile app, and it is now one of the main ways people deal with their tax. It lets you check your tax code, your Pay As You Earn (PAYE) details, your employment history and your Self Assessment record, and it also allows you to check your State Pension forecast, understand any potential gaps in your National Insurance record, and top up your contributions if you are eligible to do so¹. It sits alongside the Personal Tax Account, the same information viewed in a browser on GOV.UK, and the two work together: sign in to either and you see the same record.

Usage has grown quickly. HMRC reports the app had 7.6 million unique users and 2.8 million new users in 2025 to 2026, up 28% on the previous year, and that 5.6 million taxpayers checked their pay in it a total of almost 100 million times, an average of 18 times each². HMRC has a stated target of reaching 10 million users by April 2027². The app is free to download and currently rates 4.8 stars on the App Store and 4.6 stars on Google Play¹.

What the HMRC app lets you do

The app is a window onto your HMRC record rather than a separate service. Through it you can check your tax code, your National Insurance number, your employment history and much more⁴. HMRC describes the fuller list: customers can view their tax code, PAYE details, employment history and Self Assessment record, and can check their State Pension forecast, see gaps in their National Insurance record and make voluntary contributions where eligible¹.

Several everyday tasks become much shorter with the app. You can use it to check the employers HMRC has on file for you, your estimated income and your tax codes, and to correct them if they are wrong or missing: updating employer details, adding a missing employer, telling HMRC when an employment ended, or updating your estimated income⁵. You can also use it to check how much Income Tax you paid last year⁶. If you receive a Simple Assessment bill, where HMRC works out your tax for you, you can pay it through the app as well as online via GOV.UK, by bank transfer or by cheque⁷.

The app also handles messages. You can choose to receive updates about changes to your tax code by email or as an online message in your HMRC account or the app, instead of waiting for letters, and you view those updates in the messages section of your online account or the communication section of the app⁵. HMRC sends more than 120 million letters every year, and more than half of them could be replaced this way, so switching to emails or app notifications in your contact preferences can cut down the post you receive². From summer 2027, HMRC plans to make over 100 personal tax letters available digitally for the first time².

Who can use it: you need a Personal Tax Account

The app and the Personal Tax Account are the same thing seen from two devices. To use either, you need an HMRC online account, and you sign in with a user ID and password if you are using Government Gateway, or an email address and password if you are using GOV.UK One Login³. If you already have an HMRC gateway login from filing a tax return or claiming a refund, you use those details in the app; there is no separate account to create.

Creating an account involves proving your identity, and that is where some people get stuck. If you cannot create a personal tax account, HMRC asks you to contact them for advice, and notes that you can also estimate your Income Tax for previous years without signing in at all⁶. That estimator is a fallback, not a replacement: it gives a rough figure rather than the actual record the account shows.

There are limits on who the online services work for. If you are non-resident, you cannot use HMRC's online services to tell them about your income⁸. And the account only shows what HMRC holds: if your employer has sent the wrong details, or an employment is missing, the account will show the gap until you correct it, which you can do through the app or HMRC online services⁵.

Security of the login matters. HMRC guidance on keeping your login details safe notes that you can check the time and date you last signed in, in the settings of the online service and on the My Details page of your tax account welcome screen³. Checking that occasionally is a quick way to spot someone else using your account. Treat the login like a bank login: HMRC will never phone, text or email asking for it.

The HMRC app is free on the App Store and Google Play

The app costs nothing. HMRC states plainly that the HMRC app is free to download¹, and there are no charges for using any of its features, including checking your record, receiving messages or making payments to HMRC. It is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, and the ratings HMRC cites are 4.8 stars on the App Store and 4.6 stars on Google Play¹.

One caution applies to downloading anything popular: fake apps and fake HMRC contact circulate. HMRC warns Self Assessment customers regularly about scammers posing as HMRC, and received more than 846,000 referrals of suspicious HMRC contact from the public in one 12 month period⁹. Download the app only from the official app stores, and be sceptical of any text, email or call that claims to be from HMRC and asks for personal details or payment. Genuine HMRC branded text messages include the HMRC logo¹⁰, and HMRC has published guidance on checking whether a text message you have received from HMRC is genuine¹⁰. Suspicious activity can be reported to HMRC at phishing@hmrc.gov.uk or by sending a text to 60599⁹. The site's guide to fake HMRC calls, texts and emails covers the current scams in detail.

Checking your tax code, pay and employment history

The tax code section is the app's most used feature, and with reason: a wrong code means the wrong tax in every payslip until it is fixed. You can check your code online on GOV.UK or on the HMRC app, and let HMRC know if it still does not look right¹¹. The PAYE section of HMRC online services or the app shows the employers HMRC has for you, your estimated income and your tax codes⁵, so you can compare what HMRC thinks against what is actually happening.

The correction step matters because the record is only as good as the information behind it. If your details are wrong or missing, you can use HMRC online services or the app to update employer details, add a missing employer, tell HMRC when an employment ended, or update your estimated income⁵. Once a change is made, HMRC will tell your employer or pension provider if your tax code changes⁵, so the fix flows through to your pay without you having to negotiate it with your payroll department. If you have more than one job, you will have a tax code for each employment⁵, so check each one; the guide to two jobs and two tax codes explains how your allowance is split.

The app also shows history. You can use it to check how much Income Tax you paid last year⁶, a service HMRC calculates for everyone between June and November after the tax year ends⁶. Employment history is visible too⁴, which is useful when you need dates for a mortgage application or a pension query. For what the letters and numbers in your code actually mean, see tax codes explained, and for how tax is taken from wages and pensions in the first place, see PAYE.

State Pension forecast and gaps in your National Insurance record

The State Pension forecast is one of the app's most valuable features, because it shows a problem while there is still time to fix it. The app allows you to check your State Pension forecast, understand any potential gaps in your National Insurance record, and top up your contributions if you are eligible to do so¹. The amount you will get depends on your National Insurance record and when you reach State Pension age¹², so the forecast is the place to see whether the record is on track.

The forecast itself is an estimate. The online service tells you how much State Pension you could be entitled to, when you can claim it and how to increase the amount if you can, and the amount is based on an estimate of what your National Insurance record could be when you reach State Pension age¹³. A State Pension statement gives you an estimate of how much State Pension you may get, based on your National Insurance contribution records up to now¹⁴. It is a projection, not a promise: future contributions and rule changes can move it.

There are three ways to get a forecast: the online service, the Future Pension Centre, or application form BR19¹². The app and online service are the fast routes; if you will reach State Pension age in more than 30 days you can instead call the Future Pension Centre, who will post the forecast to you, or complete form BR19 and send it by post¹³. You cannot use the online service if you are already getting your State Pension or if you have deferred claiming it¹³.

Two rules catch people out. First, if you reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016, you cannot increase your State Pension using your spouse's or civil partner's National Insurance record¹². Second, gaps in your record do not always come from not working. Home Responsibilities Protection, which credited parents and carers before 2010, can be missing from your record if your National Insurance number was not linked to your Child Benefit claim at the time, and this could lead to underpayment of your State Pension; you can still apply for HRP if you think it is missing¹⁵. HMRC sends letter CA2490 where it thinks you may have missing HRP¹⁶. Buying shares in your employer's share scheme can also leave gaps, if it brings your earnings below the lower earnings limit¹⁷. The guides to National Insurance credits and National Insurance classes and rates cover how records are built.

Topping up National Insurance contributions through the app

Finding a gap is only useful if you can fill it, and the app now supports that directly. Where you are eligible, you can top up your contributions through the app¹. Whether paying is worthwhile depends on your record and your age: if you are above State Pension age, you need to contact the Pension Service to check whether you have a gap, and they can tell you whether making a payment would benefit you¹⁸. Below State Pension age, the forecast in the app shows the gaps and the options.

Voluntary contributions have their own process. For voluntary Class 2 contributions, you will need to register with HMRC if you do not pay through Self Assessment¹⁹. After registering, HMRC will send you a payment request between September and the end of October telling you how much to pay¹⁹. Payments can be made the same or next day through your online bank account, by online or telephone banking using Faster Payments or CHAPS, or at your bank or building society¹⁹. The guide to Class 2 National Insurance covers who pays it and how.

The app also handles the opposite case, refunds of overpaid National Insurance. You can apply online if HMRC has written to you about overpaid contributions, or contributions paid in error by your employer, and only if you have received a letter from HMRC telling you that you may be due a refund²⁰. You can also apply using the form on the back of your letter and send it to the address shown at the top²⁰. HMRC will check your application and write to you with the outcome²⁰. The letters that trigger this are genuine HMRC items: HMRC writes with letter CA4361 if it thinks you may have paid too much in contributions, and with a separate letter if you are the representative of a deceased person who paid too much¹⁶. If a letter about National Insurance refunds arrives that you were not expecting, check it against HMRC's guidance on whether a letter you have received from HMRC is genuine¹⁶.

Finding your National Insurance number on your phone

Your National Insurance number is the key that makes sure your National Insurance contributions and tax are recorded against your name only²¹. It is normally sent to you just before your 16th birthday²², and most people file the letter and forget it. The app solves the lost-letter problem: you can check your number using your online Personal Tax Account or on the HMRC app²².

If you cannot get into an account, the number appears in other places: on your P60, on letters about your tax, pension or benefits, and in the National Insurance section of your personal tax account²². If all else fails, you can complete an online form on the HMRC site and they will post your NI number to you again²². Since the number is used to record contributions and tax against your name²¹, quoting the right one matters whenever you start a job, claim benefits or deal with a pension.

Self Assessment in the app and your online account

The app shows your Self Assessment record alongside your PAYE details and employment history¹, so if you are both employed and self-employed you can see both sides of your tax in one place. What the app does not do is replace the filing process. Self Assessment returns and, under Making Tax Digital, quarterly updates are submitted through HMRC-recognised compatible software²³, not through the app itself. Some of that software includes HMRC Assist, a digital support tool that gives tailored feedback to help customers spot potential errors before submission²³. To use the software features you need an HMRC online account that is registered for Self Assessment and compatible software²⁴.

Record keeping runs alongside. You need to keep records if you have to send HMRC a Self Assessment tax return, and you will need them to fill in your return correctly and to provide documents if HMRC checks your return²⁵. The app showing your record does not remove that duty: it is a view of what HMRC holds, not a substitute for your own paperwork.

One change on the horizon links Self Assessment back to PAYE. Under the timely payments reform, where possible HMRC will update your tax code, which will determine how much Self Assessment tax is collected through your PAYE income alongside your existing tax on your employment or pension²⁶. For people whose Self Assessment bill is mostly employment income, that points to more of the process moving into the code you check in the app. The guides to Self Assessment, payments on account and Making Tax Digital cover the filing side in detail.

How many people use it: 7.6 million in a year

The scale of the app's use shows what it is for. HMRC reports that the app had 7.6 million unique users and 2.8 million new users in 2025 to 2026, up 28% on the previous year². HMRC also says more than half of the 120 million letters it sends every year could be replaced by app use, which points to why it keeps adding services to the app rather than posting them².

The frequency is the striking part. Checking pay 18 times a year is roughly once every three weeks, which suggests people are using the app the way they use a banking app: a quick look after each payday to see that the tax deducted looks right. HMRC has an ambitious target to reach 10 million users by April 2027², and almost a third of people have now checked their State Pension using the HMRC app or online¹, a figure HMRC highlighted when it reported that almost 7 million adults remain in the dark about their State Pension.

Where the app stops and where to get help

The app is a record viewer and a payment channel, not a full service. It cannot file a Self Assessment return, which needs compatible software²³. It cannot give a forecast if you are already receiving or have deferred your State Pension¹³. It cannot be used to report income if you are non-resident⁸. And it cannot answer questions that need a human: for those, HMRC runs an online tool to help you find the right guidance and support if you owe money to HMRC for tax or penalties²⁷.

If you cannot pay a tax bill, HMRC's advice is to contact it as soon as possible; you may be able to pay what you owe in instalments depending on your circumstances and affordability²⁸. If HMRC checks your tax return, it has the right to check whether any return is accurate and complete, and will call or write to tell you what it wants to check and why; if you need help during a check, tell the compliance officer what you need and they will work with you to put in place reasonable or supportive adjustments²⁹. Simple Assessment bills, which HMRC calculates from information from employers, pension providers, banks and building societies²⁵, can be paid through the app, online via GOV.UK, by bank transfer or by cheque⁷, and HMRC has urged customers not to ignore those letters⁷.

For complaints about HMRC itself, the route is set out in the guide to complaining about HMRC. For the wider picture of how income tax is worked out, see income tax: bands and rates, and for the tax side of retirement income, whether you pay income tax on the State Pension.