Proof of address from HMRC: what exists and how to get a copy

How long it takes

Why people ask for it

A landlord, a bank, a lender, an employer or another organisation sometimes asks for a letter that shows where you live. Each one sets what it accepts.

GOV.UK's form for sending evidence of your personal details to HMRC goes the other way. It is only for people HMRC has asked to send evidence, and the evidence must show a date of birth.

Got a letter from HMRC? Paste it into the checker for a plain-English identification.

Your options

1. Sign in to your personal tax account or the HMRC app

   GOV.UK says you use your personal tax account to check your records and manage your details with HMRC. GOV.UK says you can use the HMRC app to update your name or your address, choose how HMRC contacts you, and track forms and letters you have sent to HMRC.

2. Download or ask for a National Insurance number letter

   GOV.UK says you can use the HMRC app or your personal tax account to download a letter showing your National Insurance number. If you cannot find your National Insurance number on any of your documents or by using the online service, GOV.UK says you can fill in a form online, print it, sign the declaration, include documents to confirm your identity and post it to HMRC.

3. Ask HMRC for the information it holds about you

   GOV.UK says you have the right to ask HMRC for a copy of the personal information it holds about you, which is called a subject access request. GOV.UK says a subject access request is for information that is not included in the personal tax account, the HMRC app or the Income Record Viewer.

4. Phone or write to HMRC

   HMRC's Income Tax enquiries line is 0300 200 3300. The Income Tax enquiries line is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and closed on bank holidays. Post for PAYE and Income Tax queries goes to Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS.

Whether a document is enough as proof of address is for the organisation that asks for it.

HMRC letters and documents GOV.UK describes

These are the HMRC letters and documents the GOV.UK pages describe. GOV.UK does not say that any of them counts as proof of address, or which of them shows an address. The organisation asking decides what it accepts.

Tax code notice

GOV.UK says you can find your tax code by checking it online, in the HMRC app, on your payslip, or on a Tax Code Notice letter from HMRC.

GOV.UK says that if you check your tax code online or in the HMRC app, you can also find your tax code for previous tax years and sign up for paperless notifications, which means HMRC will email you when your tax code changes.

National Insurance number letter

GOV.UK says you will normally get a letter with your National Insurance number shortly before your 16th birthday if you live in the UK, and that it is sent to the address HMRC has for you.

GOV.UK says your National Insurance number may already be on something you have, such as a payslip, a P60 or letters about tax, pensions or benefits.

Self Assessment statement

GOV.UK says you will get a Self Assessment statement after you file your tax return or if your circumstances change, and that it will either be available online or sent through the post.

HMRC's Self Assessment manual, which is guidance written for HMRC staff, says that for statements issued from December 2002 the address a statement was issued to is shown in View Statements within the SA View Liabilities and Payments service. That page was last updated on 4 October 2022.

The same manual says the Self Assessment system cannot generate duplicate statements. It tells HMRC staff who are asked for a copy of an issued statement to encourage the taxpayer to use the online service first, and to produce a copy from the staff version of that service for anyone who still asks for a paper copy.

Child Benefit award notice

GOV.UK says you can normally use your Child Benefit award notice to prove you qualify for Child Benefit.

GOV.UK says to contact the Child Benefit Office for more information about getting proof.

Keeping the address HMRC holds up to date

GOV.UK says you can tell HMRC you have changed your address through its online change of address service, and that you can also do it in the HMRC app.

GOV.UK says that if you submit a Self Assessment tax return, your details will be updated once you have reported a name or address change.

GOV.UK says you can also use the HMRC app to check your tax code, your National Insurance number (which you can save to your Google or Apple wallet), and your Annual Tax Summary and employment history.

Asking HMRC for the information it holds

A subject access request is not a proof of address letter. It is a copy of the personal information HMRC holds about you, and it is the route GOV.UK describes for information the account and the app do not show.

GOV.UK says you can access a lot of the information HMRC holds about you without making a subject access request, including information for the current tax year and the last 5 years, in your personal tax account or the HMRC app.

To prove who you are in a subject access request, GOV.UK says you must give your full name, National Insurance number, date of birth, and current and previous address for the last 5 years.

GOV.UK says you can complete and submit the Data Protection Subject Access Request form online, print it and send it by post, send a letter, or contact HMRC to make a request.

Letters asking for information HMRC holds go to Subject Access Requests, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AN.

What HMRC's own guidance says about proof of address

On the GOV.UK pages Tax Letters read for individuals, HMRC does not list the documents it accepts as proof of address. HMRC's economic crime supervision handbook does name some, for a different purpose.

In HMRC's economic crime supervision handbook, the guidance on confirming the identity of a beneficial owner, officer or manager says that if photo ID does not confirm the individual's home address, they must also give a second form of ID and proof of address dated within the last 3 months, for example a council tax demand letter or statement, a current gas or electric bill, or a bank statement. That is HMRC's wording for that one check.

GOV.UK pages to read

• GOV.UK: Personal tax accountSign in to check your records and manage your details with HMRC, including telling HMRC about a change of name or address.
• GOV.UK: Tell HMRC about a change to your personal detailsTell HMRC about a change of name or address, online or in the HMRC app.
• GOV.UK: Find your National Insurance numberWhere to find your National Insurance number, and how to download a letter showing it.
• GOV.UK: Prove you qualify for Child BenefitThe award notice, the proof of entitlement page and who to contact for Child Benefit proof.
• GOV.UK: Make a subject access request to HMRCHow to ask HMRC for a copy of the personal information it holds about you.

If you cannot get a letter from HMRC

Which documents an organisation accepts in place of a letter from HMRC is for the organisation to say. If you need other proof of Child Benefit, GOV.UK says you may be able to use a bank statement showing Child Benefit going into your account, or use the online service or the HMRC app to print your proof of entitlement page or save it as a document to use as proof.

If you leave it

A request for proof of address comes from the organisation asking, so any date it gives you is its own, not HMRC's. GOV.UK says you need to tell HMRC if you have changed your name or address.

If you want to ask an adviser

• Which documents does the organisation asking for proof of address accept, and how recent do they have to be?
• Is the address HMRC holds for me the address I want shown, and if not, how do I update it?
• Would a letter from HMRC, a bank, a council or a landlord suit the organisation best?
• If I need information HMRC holds for another purpose, would a download from my account or a subject access request be the better route?