Unable to Access My Companies HMRC GOV Gateway Account - Please Help

[tarrant_r]

I have recently purchased a friends Limited Company for a small sum. The company is a small food importer, only turning over about 10K a year and making a very small profit. I am the sole director and shareholder. My friend is up to his neck at the moment and in the process of emigrating to Latin America

I have access to the Companies House web filling account and I made the necessary changes to reflect the documents all parties have agreed and signed

However I have not been able to access the HMRC Government Gateway account in order to file Corporation Tax and setup MTD VAT. He has lost access to the email address he used to initially setup access to HMRC government gateway account. His accountant is not returning calls as a small amount of money is owed.

My question is this; how can I gain access to the HMRC Government Gateway account in order to file VAT and CT returns? I can get his signature and agreement - but without access to the email account used to setup the account nor his accountant I have hit a deadend.

This seems to be a massive oversight by HMRC - what happens if you lose access to the email address and are no longer in contact with the accountant??

If any one can offer some genuine advice that would be appreciated.

I am at my whits end and this should not be that hard - surely this is a common occurrence, and there is a simple solution?

 

[Galactus2024]

The first thing you need is the companies UTR number (unique tax reference) which is obtainable by searching HMRC for lost UTR.
HMRC will send the UTR to the registered office of the company.
You then need to register for a government gateway user id, this
is sent out by email. You should then be able to access the company
tax and VAT utilising your gateway id and the companies UTR.
I only know this because I am nearing the end of a similar problem setting up a Community Benefit Society.
Best of luck!!

 

[tarrant_r]

Thanks Galactus2024 for the response......

Just to be clear, sorry I forgot to mention, I have the UTR.

However I am pretty sure I cannot simply create another Government Gateway ID and use the UTR to access the CT and VAT account.

I have tried this and I am unable to access the companies CT and VAT account in any way possible.

 

[Ozzy]

However I am pretty sure I cannot simply create another Government Gateway ID and use the UTR to access the CT and VAT account.

Yes you can do this. It makes no logical sense to anyone outside of HMRC but yes you can. My wife, due to getting a little confuzzled, ended up with 7x HMRC accounts for her tax filings.

 

[fisicx]

Or just pay the accountant.

 

[TheSkyisGray]

Call up the online helpdesk.

Accountants use their agent accounts so wouldn’t know your GG login. But you could pay them to file your accounts and VAT returns. And pay them for previously doing this.

I assume you were aware of the company’s debts when you purchased the company.

 

[tarrant_r]

Yes you can do this. It makes no logical sense to anyone outside of HMRC but yes you can. My wife, due to getting a little confuzzled, ended up with 7x HMRC accounts for her tax filings.

Hi guys.

Thanks for the responses so far...

1. In terms of just simply paying the accountant/bookeeper; Sadly the accountant has a very basic grasp of english and is currently on her home country of Latvia until mid Sept. I need this sorting ASAP, nor I am starting to get worried about what I have gotten into.

Furthermore her relationship with the old director has broken down. Even if she was in the country and could understand what I am saying, she is not very motivated to do anything until she is fully paid by the old director.

I am also not prepared nor have the means to her, now quite large bill

2. To address Ozzy's point directly. It is impossible to create a new Gov Gateway account and use that to have access to another VAT account. The VAT account is tied to specific Gov Gateway.

I now know this fact - after creating a new Gov Gateway account, adding the correct details which as specific to that VAT Account such as last amount in box 5, registration date, registration postcode. I am left with the message;

----------------------

You cannot use this service​

Your business is set up for VAT with another Government Gateway user ID. Try signing in again using a different user ID.

------------------------

To be clear I cannot recover the original account as I do not have access to the original email address in order to recover the orginal Gov Gateway ID

To address the point on my orginal email; How can I access the VAT and CT tax accounts without the email address nor the acquisance of the accountant??

I would really like this resolved, it seems so trival to sort, yet so hard !

Please can some experts help me ?

 

[DWS]

Have you tried what was mentioned above and phoned the HMRC online helpline?
Did you not take over the Companies debts when you purchased the Company which would include paying the accountant?

 

[tarrant_r]

Have you tried what was mentioned above and phoned the HMRC online helpline?
Did you not take over the Companies debts when you purchased the Company which would include paying the accountant?

Hi

I have tried both the chat bot - pretty useless and the phone number at HMRC - on hold for 90 mins last time


To answer your last point; clearly these debts to the accountant where not disclosed. I am focused on gaining access to the vat account - this is my priority at the moment.

Surely there is a simple and well known solution to this problem. I cannot be the only one shut out of the VAt account as I don't have access to the original email account

 

[DWS]

Last time a client of mine was unable to access their VAT account to authorise me for MTD they phoned HMRC snd got it sorted over the phone.

 

[TheSkyisGray]

I fail to see why the accountant should not be paid just because you didn’t do proper due diligence. Check your contract to see if you can recover the fees from the seller so you can settle them.

What else don’t you know about?

 

[Ziggy2024]

Hi guys.

Thanks for the responses so far...

1. In terms of just simply paying the accountant/bookeeper; Sadly the accountant has a very basic grasp of english and is currently on her home country of Latvia until mid Sept. I need this sorting ASAP, nor I am starting to get worried about what I have gotten into.

Furthermore her relationship with the old director has broken down. Even if she was in the country and could understand what I am saying, she is not very motivated to do anything until she is fully paid by the old director.

I am also not prepared nor have the means to her, now quite large bill

2. To address Ozzy's point directly. It is impossible to create a new Gov Gateway account and use that to have access to another VAT account. The VAT account is tied to specific Gov Gateway.

I now know this fact - after creating a new Gov Gateway account, adding the correct details which as specific to that VAT Account such as last amount in box 5, registration date, registration postcode. I am left with the message;

----------------------

You cannot use this service​

Your business is set up for VAT with another Government Gateway user ID. Try signing in again using a different user ID.

------------------------

To be clear I cannot recover the original account as I do not have access to the original email address in order to recover the orginal Gov Gateway ID

To address the point on my orginal email; How can I access the VAT and CT tax accounts without the email address nor the acquisance of the accountant??

I would really like this resolved, it seems so trival to sort, yet so hard !

Please can some experts help me ?

To reiterate other comments forget about the accountant, they are irrelevant. You need to speak to HMRC, explain the situation and get the gateway reset. That's the only way to solve this.