Call HMRC: Phone Numbers, Opening Hours, and Costs

To reach HMRC by phone, call the helpline for your specific tax area rather than looking for a single general number. The main HMRC phone numbers are 0300 200 3300 for Income Tax and PAYE, 0300 200 3310 for Self Assessment, 0300 200 3500 for National Insurance, 0300 200 3700 for VAT, 0300 200 3410 for Corporation Tax, 0300 200 3100 for Child Benefit, and 0300 123 1072 for Inheritance Tax. Have your National Insurance number ready before you dial, along with any reference number from recent HMRC letters, because every helpline begins with a security check and the agent cannot discuss your account until you pass it.

The Main HMRC Phone Numbers

Each line is staffed by specialists for that tax area, so picking the right one avoids transfers. Unless noted, hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, closed on bank holidays.

Income Tax and PAYE — 0300 200 3300

Use this line for questions about employment income, your tax code, Marriage Allowance, or a P800 calculation.¹

Self Assessment — 0300 200 3310

For returns, payments, and notices related to Self Assessment.² A separate technical support line exists for problems logging in, submitting forms online, or dealing with error messages in your account.³ Class 4 National Insurance enquiries also use this number.⁴

National Insurance — 0300 200 3500

For Class 1, 2, and 3 National Insurance queries, including contribution rates, gaps in your record, credits for parents and carers, refunds, and certificate of coverage questions for working abroad.⁴

VAT — 0300 200 3700

For VAT registration changes, Making Tax Digital for VAT, and general VAT questions.⁵

Corporation Tax — 0300 200 3410

General Corporation Tax enquiries. Large businesses should contact their Customer Compliance Manager directly rather than using this line.⁶

Child Benefit — 0300 200 3100

Child Benefit questions.⁷

Inheritance Tax — 0300 123 1072

For help understanding Inheritance Tax responsibilities after someone has died, including which forms to complete. This line runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. HMRC will not give estate-planning advice through this line; it covers only obligations that arise after a death.⁸

Calling From Outside the UK

Most helplines publish an international number alongside the standard 0300 line. For Self Assessment, dial +44 161 931 9070.² For Corporation Tax, use +44 151 268 0571.⁶ For Child Benefit from abroad, call +44 161 210 3086.⁷ For Inheritance Tax, +44 300 123 1072.⁸ Non-UK residents with Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax queries have their own line at +44 135 535 9022, open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm UK time.⁹

From a US time zone, 8am UK is 3am Eastern or midnight Pacific, so the early-morning window that works for UK callers is impractical. Aiming for mid-morning UK time (around 10am to 11am, which is 5am to 6am Eastern) tends to combine reasonable wait times with a less painful alarm. International calls will be charged at your provider’s standard international rate.

What to Have Ready Before You Dial

The agent will not discuss anything account-specific until you clear security. Get these together first.

Your National Insurance number. This is the primary identifier HMRC uses to locate your record. If you do not know yours, the HMRC app lets you look it up before calling.¹¹⁰
Your full legal name, date of birth, and current address, which the agent will cross-reference against HMRC’s record.
Your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) if the call relates to Self Assessment, Corporation Tax, or a partnership. A UTR can be 10 or 13 digits long.¹¹
Reference numbers from any HMRC letter your call is about. For P800 refund claims, HMRC specifically asks for both the P800 reference and your National Insurance number.¹²
A recent payslip or your last P60. The agent may ask about recent pay or income figures as an extra identity check.

If you cannot pass security, the agent cannot access your account at all. You will need to gather the missing information and call again, or use HMRC’s online services where you authenticate through Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login instead.

Best Times to Call and What It Costs

The first hour after lines open, between 8am and 9am, consistently has the shortest waits. Thursdays tend to be the quietest day. Mondays are the worst, and afternoons after 4pm often see waits spike sharply or lines become so busy that callers get cut off. The lunch window between 12pm and 2pm is also slow going.

Call volumes surge in the weeks before the 31 January Self Assessment deadline. If your query is not urgent, avoid calling in January. The online Self Assessment return deadline is 31 January 2026, with the payment deadline on the same date.¹³ The 5 October deadline to notify HMRC of a new Self Assessment obligation and the 31 October paper return deadline also drive high call volume.

All main HMRC helplines use 0300 numbers. Under Ofcom rules, a call to any 03 number can never cost more than a call to a standard landline. If your phone plan includes minutes for UK landlines (most modern contracts do), calls to HMRC count against those same minutes at no extra charge. Pay-as-you-go callers without bundled minutes pay their network’s standard out-of-bundle rate, which can range from a few pence to over 60p per minute depending on the provider.

If You Cannot Use the Phone

If you cannot hear or speak on the phone, use Relay UK by dialling 18001 followed by the full HMRC telephone number. HMRC also accepts contact through a British Sign Language interpreter.¹⁴ If a health condition or personal circumstance makes contacting HMRC difficult, ask any helpline adviser to transfer you to the extra support team, or use the extra support webchat. This covers situations from cognitive difficulties and mental health conditions to financial hardship or being a victim of domestic abuse.¹⁵

For routine tasks, the HMRC app often saves you the call entirely. It lets you check your tax code, look up your National Insurance number, view your employment and income history for the last five years, find your UTR, make Self Assessment or Simple Assessment payments, claim a tax refund, track forms and letters you have sent, and update your name or address. You can also check for National Insurance gaps and, in some cases, pay to fill them directly through the app.¹⁰

HMRC also offers webchat for certain services, mainly technical support with online accounts. You start with a digital assistant, which tries to resolve the question automatically; if it cannot, you can request a transfer to a live adviser during operating hours (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm). Around the Self Assessment deadline, HMRC sometimes extends webchat availability, including Saturday 31 January 2026 from 8am to 4pm.¹⁶

Letting Someone Else Call for You

If you want a spouse, family member, or friend to speak with HMRC about your tax affairs on a one-off basis, you need to be present on the call. HMRC will confirm their identity and check that you are happy for them to represent you before the agent will speak with them.¹⁷

For ongoing representation, such as authorizing an accountant or tax adviser to handle your affairs, use Form 64-8. This grants a professional agent authority to deal with HMRC on your behalf across specified tax areas like Self Assessment, PAYE, or VAT. The form requires the agent’s correct agent codes for each tax regime, and both claimants must sign if it relates to a joint tax credit claim.¹⁸ Some tax services also let you authorize an agent directly through your business tax account, bypassing the paper form.¹⁹

1
GOV.UK. Income Tax: Enquiries
2
GOV.UK. Self Assessment: General Enquiries
3
GOV.UK. Self Assessment: Online Technical Support
4
GOV.UK. National Insurance: Enquiries
5
GOV.UK. VAT: General Enquiries
6
GOV.UK. Corporation Tax: General Enquiries
7
GOV.UK. Child Benefit: Enquiries
8
GOV.UK. Inheritance Tax: General Enquiries
9
GOV.UK. Non-UK Residents Income Tax and Capital Gains: Enquiries
10
GOV.UK. Download the HMRC App
11
GOV.UK. Unique Taxpayer Reference – HMRC Patterns for Services
12
GOV.UK. Tax Overpayments and Underpayments – If Youre Due a Refund
13
GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns: Deadlines
14
GOV.UK. Telephone Contact: Sensitive Call Handling: Profoundly Deaf, Hard of Hearing
15
GOV.UK. Get Help From HMRC if You Need Extra Support
16
GOV.UK. Technical Support With HMRC Online Services
17
GOV.UK. Appoint Someone to Deal With HMRC on Your Behalf
18
GOV.UK. Authorising an Agent to Deal With Your Tax Affairs
19
GOV.UK. Sign in to Your HMRC Business Tax Account