Table of contents
Table of contents
Your Unique Taxpayer Reference number (UTR) is an important 10-digit number which identifies the tax records of your business. You’ll receive one after registering for Self Assessment, setting up your own limited company, or creating another type of business.
Your UTR will be hidden within the onslaught of letters and emails you get after setting up a new business. It will also be shown in your online tax account, and any other communications you receive from HMRC.
UTR numbers are fairly easy to spot. Sometimes also called a tax reference number, it takes the form of a 10-digit number that looks something like 12345 67890. Everyone will have their own unique number, so don’t worry if yours looks different to someone else’s – it’s supposed to!
Similar to your National Insurance number, a UTR is a tax reference number that’ll stick by you throughout your lifetime, or for the lifetime of your business if you have a UTR for a limited company. It’s used to identify the tax records of a business entity such as a sole trader or a limited company, and how much tax it owes.
It’s HMRC’s way of ensuring you make the correct payments, and also helps them to watch out for any suspicious activity.
You’ll need a UTR number to:
You’ll receive your UTR number in the post within 10 days of setting yourself up for Self Assessment or registering your limited company. If you need it sooner, log into your Personal Tax account or the HMRC app – it should be there a little earlier.
This depends on what sort of business you operate. If you’re a sole trader you’ll only have one personal UTR number, even if you have multiple sole trader businesses. As a sole trader you aren’t legally separate from your business, so all your different sole trader roles are seen as one legal entity.
If you’re operating a limited company, you are seen as a separate entity from your business, so you’ll have:
Anyone running multiple limited companies will need a separate UTR number for each one to submit its own Company Tax Return. If you do have multiple UTR numbers, file them away somewhere safe so you don’t get them mixed up!
If you’ve either lost your UTR number or have yet to receive one (and it’s been over 10 days since you registered), you can request it via the Self Assessment helpline.
If you need your limited company’s UTR number, you can request a copy of it online.
Your UTR number is unique to you and shouldn’t be shared around to just anyone. You should only really need to give it out if:
Your Government Gateway ID and your UTR number are different.
Whilst your UTR number identifies your tax records, you’ll need your Government Gateway ID to login to various online services, such as the HMRC portal for submitting your tax returns. It’s 12 digits long and usually looks like this: 123123123123.
Use your Government Gateway ID to sign into HMRC’s online services portal.
You can find your UTR number on your Government Gateway account by logging in and looking under your account summary, or the Self Assessment tax section in your account. You can also log into the HMRC app and find it in your Personal Tax Account.
Learn more about how Pandle bookkeeping software can help you keep your business on track, and register your account.
A creative content writer specialising across business, finance and software topics. I have a love for all things writing, and creating engaging, easy to understand content that helps everyday people!
Create your account today, and decide what to do with all the extra time you get back. We hear Pilates is popular.
Live chat support
No card details required
Making Tax Digital compliant
