HMRC personal tax account

Your personal tax account is HMRC’s online service for individuals, also available through the HMRC app. For an employee it is the quickest way to see your tax code for each job, check the income HMRC thinks you will earn this year, claim a refund, apply for Marriage Allowance and check your National Insurance record and State Pension forecast. It is free, and you sign in through gov.uk.

What employees can do in it

The account pulls together what HMRC holds about you from your employers’ payroll submissions. The services most useful to public sector staff:

• see the tax code used by each employer or pension, and why HMRC chose it
• check and update the estimated income for each job, which HMRC uses to set your codes
• tell HMRC about a job that has ended or a new one that has started
• see your pay and tax from each employer for this year and earlier years
• claim a tax refund HMRC has identified, and track it
• apply for Marriage Allowance, or cancel it
• claim tax relief on job expenses, such as uniform washing and professional fees
• check your National Insurance record and see any gaps
• get a State Pension forecast
• update your name or address
• manage Child Benefit and Tax-Free Childcare, and see Self Assessment details if you file a return

Checking your tax code

The “check your Income Tax” section shows each employment, the tax code being used and how HMRC built it: your personal allowance, plus any reliefs such as flat rate expenses, minus anything taken off for a benefit in kind or underpaid tax.

This matters most after a change. When you start a new NHS or school job, take bank shifts with a second employer, or leave a post partway through the year, HMRC often relies on an estimate of your earnings, and a wrong estimate gives a wrong code. Correcting the estimated pay for a job usually produces a new code within days, sent straight to your employer. How to check your tax code goes through the codes you are likely to see.

Splitting your allowance between jobs

With two jobs and a main one paying less than £12,570 a year, the account shows how your allowance is shared out and lets you ask HMRC to move part of it to the other job. That stops the second job’s BR code taking 20 per cent of pay that should be tax-free. Tax when you have two jobs explains when this applies.

Refunds and relief claims

After the end of each tax year HMRC reconciles your tax. If you paid too much, the account shows the refund and lets you claim it to a bank account. If you paid too little, it shows what is owed and how HMRC intends to collect it, usually through next year’s tax code.

You can also claim tax relief on employment expenses. Nurses, healthcare support workers, police and others who wash their own uniform can claim a flat rate expense, and relief is available on professional fees and subscriptions on HMRC’s approved list, such as NMC or HCPC registration. Uniform claims can be backdated for up to four previous tax years. Uniform tax relief and claiming a tax refund cover the details.

Some companies offer to make these claims for a share of the refund. You can do it yourself for free through the account.

National Insurance record and State Pension

The account shows each tax year of your National Insurance record and whether it counts as a qualifying year. Years can be incomplete after a career break, work abroad or earnings below the Lower Earnings Limit (£129 a week in 2026/27) without credits.

The State Pension forecast estimates what you could get from your record so far, against the full new State Pension of £241.30 a week. It also shows your State Pension age. If there are gaps, the forecast explains whether paying voluntary contributions could increase your pension. Check that decision with the Future Pension Centre before paying anything. State pension age covers the timetable.

Setting it up

You sign in through gov.uk. The first time, you will be asked to prove your identity, usually with photo ID such as a passport or driving licence, or with details from a payslip, P60 or other financial records. Have your National Insurance number and a recent payslip to hand to speed it up.

HMRC will never ask for your password by text or email. Messages saying you are due a refund, with a link to claim it, are a common scam. If in doubt, sign in directly through gov.uk or the app instead of following a link, and report suspicious messages to HMRC.