Using the GOV.UK website
Finding the guidance you need, including manuals and forms, registering for email alerts, giving feedback and accessing 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.
At the top of every page on GOV.UK you will find a search box icon and a ‘Menu’ dropdown. You can use these - or HMRC’s organisation page - to help you find what you are looking for.
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 and associated guides, notes, helpsheets and supplementary pages.
HMRC’s organisation page features numerous news stories, latest updates and other useful information. The ‘Documents’ section includes a number of links to help you see all:
You can refine GOV.UK search results by clicking on the ‘Filter and sort’ link at the top of your 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.
To give feedback on this handbook, you can complete this 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