I have always paid my self assessment to HMRC by bank transfer, but there have been a lot of threads recently along the lines of mistyped account numbers and sort codes…
It made me a little nervous doing it this time, although I double and triple checked the numbers. I didn’t think it was practical to send a £1 test amount as I wouldn’t even know who to call to see if it had been paid. (Although I perhaps could have paid £1 and checked a week later to see if the amount I owed had changed).
So, given all this, should HMRC stop offering this as a payment option?
It’s actually quite difficult to mistype the HMRC account numbers and sort codes - as most banks have them hard coded in their list of companies/utilities/credit card firms and all you need to do is choose the right supplier.
If Monzo don’t do this, this is a weakness in their systems not HMRC.
Of course, there is always the risk of putting in the wrong reference number but you have a lot less to check if that and the amount are the only things you are entering.
If you don’t want to enter the bank account details, pay by debit card instead.
Definitely shouldn’t stop it. In addition to all the above most companies including HMRC have their details in the biller service which most big banks use. Using this means the details are official and can be confirmed which further helps reduce human error.
