Before an agent can deal with HMRC on your behalf you must first authorise them. How you authorise a tax agent is different depending on which tax they are dealing with.

You can authorise a tax agent through your business tax account for:

• PAYE for employers
• Construction Industry Scheme
• VAT
• VAT EU refunds
• VAT Mini One Stop Shop
• Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA)
• Machine Games Duty
• Gambling Tax
• Employment Related Securities

For Self Assessment and Corporation Tax, talk to your agent about how they can get authorised.

For some taxes, your agent may ask you to authorise them using a link that they send to you — this is known as a digital handshake. Find out how you can authorise an agent using the digital handshake.

If you are unsure, you should speak to your agent about the best method for authorising them.

How to add a tax agent yourself in your business tax account

1. Get an Agent Government Gateway Identifier from your agent.

2. Sign in to your business tax account using your Governmentsign Gatewayin user ID and password.details.

3. Select “Manage account”.

4. On the “Manage account” page, under the “Tax agents” category select “Add, view or change tax agents”.

5. Select which tax you want to add a tax agent to.

6. On the “Manage who can access your taxes and schemes” page, select “Add an agent” for the tax that you would like to update.

7. On the “Add an agent to this tax or scheme?” page, enter the agent ID.

8. After entering the agent ID you will be asked to confirm that your agent’s details are correct — if they are select “Add agent”.

If you need remove a tax agent’s authorisation

If you need to stop someone from dealing with HMRC on your behalf, you can remove their authorisation through your business tax account.

Find out how to change or remove your tax agent’s authorisation.