Guidance help
Tips for navigating guidance and using search, email alerts, feedback and archives.
The purpose of HMRC guidance on GOV.UK is to give people the information they need so that they can get their tax right.
We use a variety of formats and guidance types on GOV.UK depending on the purpose, type, volume and complexity of the information.
Mainstream and specialist guidance
Information that people need to complete a task or make a decision will be published as either mainstream or specialist guidance (depending on the intended users).
You can use the GOV.UK search, navigation menus or HMRC organisation page to find this guidance.
You can also find guidelines for compliance in the compliance checks section.
HMRC manuals
HMRC manuals contain technical guidance for HMRC staff and tax professionals. Their primary purpose is to explain HMRC’s interpretation of relevant legislation, which is the basis on which the department makes decisions.
HMRC forms
HMRC forms and associated guides, notes, helpsheets and supplementary pages:
You can refine search results by using the sort by options and filters such as topic, type of content or date the content was last updated. Select or enter a filter then select Apply to update your search results.
Many guidance pages on GOV.UK allow you to sign up to email alerts. This means you’ll be notified when the page is updated.
When presented with the option, to sign up for an alert to:
- a specific page, select ‘Get emails about this page’
- a topic, select ‘Get emails for this topic’
- an organisation, select ‘Get emails’ such as on the HMRC organisation page
Follow the instructions to manage your email subscription.
All pages on GOV.UK enable you to give feedback.
Giving feedback anonymously helps HMRC improve our content.
At the bottom of every page you will see the question ‘Is this page useful?’. Click ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to tell us what you think. You can also select the ‘Report a problem with this page’ link to leave a feedback comment for that particular page.
HMRC review all of the anonymous feedback comments received on our manuals and over 50% of them result in improvements being made to the guidance.
If you would prefer to submit feedback about content and receive a response, you can use the GOV.UK contact form.
The National Archives maintain the UK Government National Archives which captures copies of HMRC guidance at regular intervals.
You can find an archived website if you need to see previous versions of HMRC guidance that were held on the websites:
- www.gov.uk
- www.hmrc.gov.uk
- www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk