Government Gateway User ID: How to Create, Find and Recover It

A Government Gateway user ID is the 12-digit number you use, with a password, to sign in to HMRC online services. It is created once, lasts as long as you keep the account, and is sent to you by email when you register. Most sign-in problems come down to one of three things: the ID is in an old inbox, there are two accounts, or HMRC has moved you to GOV.UK One Login and the page looks different. This guide covers all three.

What the Government Gateway user ID is

The Government Gateway is the sign-in system HMRC has used since the early 2000s. Your user ID identifies the account; the services you can use (Self Assessment, Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE for employers, the personal tax account) are "enrolled" on it one at a time. The ID is not the same as your UTR, your National Insurance number or your employer PAYE reference, even though all of them turn up during registration.

How to create a Government Gateway account

1. Go to the HMRC sign-in page on GOV.UK and choose "create sign in details".
2. Enter an email address you will keep. HMRC sends a confirmation code to it.
3. Enter your full name and create a password.
4. Set up two-step verification with a mobile number, a landline for voice calls, or an authenticator app.
5. HMRC shows your new 12-digit user ID on screen and emails it. Save it somewhere safe.
6. Confirm your identity. HMRC asks for your National Insurance number and details from a passport, driving licence, payslip or P60, or a credit record check.

At this point you have an account but no services. Adding Self Assessment, for example, needs your UTR and an activation code posted to your address (see below).

Where to find your user ID

• The welcome email from HMRC when you created the account. Search your email for "Government Gateway".
• The HMRC app, in the profile or settings area, once you have signed in.
• Any printed confirmation from a previous tax return submission, which usually shows the ID in part.
• Your accountant will not have it. Agents use their own accounts and never need yours.

How to recover a lost user ID or password

On the sign-in page choose "problems signing in". For a lost user ID, HMRC asks for the email address on the account and then confirms your identity before emailing the ID. For a lost password it sends a reset link. If you have lost access to the email address as well, HMRC can post the ID to your home address, which takes up to ten working days.

If the phone used for verification is gone, the recovery flow lets you prove identity another way and set a new number. Set up a second verification method as soon as you are back in, so this does not happen again.

Government Gateway and GOV.UK One Login

GOV.UK One Login is the government's single sign-in for everything from passports to tax, and HMRC has been moving customers to it since 2025. When your account moves, you sign in with an email address and password rather than a 12-digit ID, and you prove your identity once with a photo ID or the GOV.UK ID Check app. Nothing about your tax record changes.

The practical rule: sign in the way the page asks you to, and do not create a new account because the screen looks unfamiliar. If you are moved mid-year, HMRC emails you about it first. Our Self Assessment login guide has more on telling the two apart.

Adding HMRC services to your account

Inside your account, choose "add a tax" or "manage account". Each service needs its own reference:

• Self Assessment: your 10-digit UTR. HMRC then posts an activation code.
• Corporation Tax: the company UTR and registered office postcode.
• VAT: the VAT registration number and effective date of registration.
• PAYE for employers: the employer PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference.

Activation codes last 28 days. If one expires, request another from the same screen.

One account or several?

HMRC's advice is one personal account for your own taxes and a separate account for each business. In practice people end up with several personal accounts, each with one service on it, and lose track. If that is you, pick the account that has Self Assessment enrolled and use it for everything personal; the others can simply be left dormant.

What Cloudkeepers can do

We cannot log in as you, and we would not want to, but we can take most of the reasons for logging in away. With agent authorisation we file your tax return, VAT returns and company accounts from our own systems and tell you what to pay and when.