shewhomust | Thwarted

My plan for today was to submit my tax return online - and then to post, triumphantly, that I had done this, and how much I disapproved of the changes in tax law that made it necessary.

It has to be done by the end of the month, and of course I should have done it sooner. I haven't been ignoring it, and I had already ascertained that in order to register online I would need to receive a login number by mobile phone, and no I couldn't use e-mail and they couldn't send it in the post, text-message only. Yes, I know, this shouldn't be a problem, but text is probably my least favourite means of communication, and Id choose anything else in preference.

But I had bitten the bullet, and set about gathering up all the necessary figures so that, having received my one-use-only login number, I could log in and complete the form. This afternoon I entered my mobile number in the appropriate place, received the resultant text-message, typed the number in the box, and moved on to the next step, establishing my identity.

This done, I was set to register for self-assessment. All I have to do is give them my National Insurance number (again) and my unique tax reference. My what? But there's a handy pop-up box which explains that my unique tax reference (UTR) is a number which will be issued by HMRC when I have registered for self assessment.

durham_rambler and I have both read this several times, and it really does appear to say that in order to register for self assessment I need a number which will not be issued until I have registered for self assessment. When it will be sent to me in the post.

So tomorrow morning I shall be on the phone to HMRC. Meanwhile, there's some bread dough proving which I shall go and pummel.