trouble registering for a PTA

can't register - NI number not recognised

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Young man is newly employed. Aged 21. Out of university with a top degree. First job. Well paid. Not registered as a client with us yet.

He has tried to register for a Personal Tax Account but the processes keep throwing him out as they claim his National Insurance number is not recognised (he is definitely using his correct National Insurance number).

He can sign in and verify his identity with Experian but then, when he 'authenticates', it asks for his NI number. After entering his NI number the HMRC page displays "your sign in details have not been recognised".

He phoned HMRC technical support and they said they can't help him……. “you have to click the ‘get help with this page’ link at the bottom.”

That link does not explain or cover his problem.

Not come across this scenario before and using HMRC and Google searches I can't get to the bottom of how to resolve this.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what’s gone wrong and how he can register for his Personal Tax Account?

Replies (3)

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By Matrix
11th Jun 2019 21:02

I don’t have one and nor do my clients, there doesn’t seem to be much experience of them. If he is employed then you are unlikely to get a fee so I wouldn’t spend too long on it.

Since he is young then I would suggest webchat or Twitter, obviously not giving any personal details away. Believe it or not, it is called HMRC customer support @HMRCcustomers.

However, while I am no IT expert, I would clear cookies or use a different browser first.

Thanks (1)
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By taxinfo
12th Jun 2019 08:41

Thanks Matrix but I’m not concerned about getting my fee. Client is a computer expert. After a stint working for GCHQ he has been snapped up by a huge multinational at a massive salary and a large "golden hello".

All that expertise and he still can’t get HMRC’s IT to behave! What hope the rest of us?

I’ll pass on your webchat/twitter suggestions though. Good idea.

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By lesley.barnes
12th Jun 2019 08:48

Has he contacted HMRC national insurance team? I have 2 national ins numbers and HMRC online systems doesn't recognise the real one. The two numbers are linked so I'm told it doesn't impact on my contributions for a pension. In my case they don't know why the only suggestion they came up with was when I got married whatever they do at HMRC wasn't done correctly. Won't apply in his case but could be something similar.

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