Hmrc.gov.uk

Words fail me in writing a review of HMRC self-assessment income tax as a process. The website and access to it; the language and terminology they use; the navigation; the convolution of payment and calculation information; the circularity of trying to get help from a website that directs you to a phone number whose voice messages direct you back to the website. I'm absolutely disgusted by HMRC and the British Government that continues to fail the people of the UK in so many ways. A simple process is made stupendously complex, not due to it being intrinsically complex, but by the sheer incompetence of the bureaucrats that work for the UK Government. Just doing my self-assessment today has allowed me to make up my mind about leaving this country, so disgusted am I at the shambles they have made of everything. Even trying to pay them proves to be plagued by problems and the same frustrating, stupidly flawed website they have created.

If HMRC has deliberately created a system designed to cause stress to citizens then it is working brilliantly.

From registering a government gateway account to registering as self employed. Both options in which it should be straight forward is far from it. Particularly when registering as being self employed. The experience I have had when eventually registering for an account via getting hold of a government gateway user ID, the same government gateway user ID cannot be used when registering as being self employed. As when registering as being self employed requires another registration of another gateway user ID, to which for some reason when completing a registration of being self employed after completing registration of receiving another user ID and submitting the form online in declaring one self as being self employed, the user ID in registering as being self employed doesn't work, leaving a question mark over your head as to whether the online application in declaring one self as being self employed has been successfully submitted. This is when it comes into it being a complicated process. So not only have I got 2 user ID's, one of which works when logging in which is the one in creating a user account, with the other not working, the one that involves registering to declare myself as being self employed. Why is one not able to declare myself as being self employed using the user ID when first registering an account without having to register for another user ID when registering and declaring myself as being self employed? For as I see it, when registering in declaring myself as being self employed, it requires another registration before proceeding to fill out an online form in registering and declaring myself as being self employed but no option is given in using the user ID when first creating an account in logging in with the user ID that had been received when registering for a new account.