Cookies

When HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) provide services, they want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used to identify you personally.

These pieces of information are used to improve services for you through, for example:

  • enabling a service to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same information several times during one task
  • recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don't need to do it for every web page requested
  • measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there's enough capacity to ensure they are fast

You can manage these small files yourself and learn more about them through Internet browser cookies - what they are and how to manage them (Opens new window).

HMRC use of cookies

First party

HMRC use a first party cookie to identify unique visitors to their website.

Cookies for improving service

HMRC use cookies to track users' progress through the site, allowing them to make improvements based on usage data. The information in a cookie does not contain any personally identifiable information you submit to our site.

  • Name: webanalytics-page-search
    Typical content: hmrc.gov.uk%2Fsa%2F
    Expires: 1 year
  • Name: usy46gabsosd
    Typical content: randomly generated number
    Expires: End Of Session
  • Name: hmrcDBID
    Typical content: 2_null
    Expires: 5 years

Cookies for delivering HMRC secure online services

In delivering HMRC secure online services HMRC use the following Cookies:

Authentication cookie

This cookie ensures that you are able to log in and access HMRC services.
Expires – End of session.

Device Authentication Cookie

This cookie assists HMRC to authenticate your identity by capturing details of the device that you use to access HMRC services including your browser and other attributes.

Technical information

  • Name- dp_device
  • Typical Content - Essentially randomly-generated values that just need to match values on the server.
  • Name- dp_sequenceNum
  • Typical Content - cookie keeps track of the number of device profiles (increments by 1 each time).
  • Name- dp_attrs
  • Typical Content – Contains attributes about your computer such as screen resolution, CPU type, internet browser version and types of software installed. This data is compared with records of your previous use of HMRC services to identify your regular patterns of usage
  • Expires – 5 years

Form session cookie

This cookie is used to prevent unsolicited form submissions from malicious websites whilst you are logged in.

Technical information

  • Name - Millisecond timestamp
  • Typical Content - Numeric values e.g. 1303985898345
  • Expires – End of session

Language cookie

This helps HMRC determine which language you requested the page to be displayed in.

Technical information

  • Name - lang
  • Typical Content - 'eng' or 'cym'
  • Expires – End of session

Navigation state cookie

Allows you to return to search results pages, etc, without having to re-enter your search criteria.

Technical Information

  • Name - HMRC_PORTAL_NAV_STATE_COOKIE
  • Typical Content - Depends on usage, e.g. if an agent has searched for clients called 'Smith', and is on page 4 of the results, then it might have a value like 'search=Smith;page=4', but URL encoded.
  • Expires – End of session

Skin cookie

This cookie ensures that if you visit the HMRC site via Business Link or DirectGov you will always see the correctly branded pages during your visit - and can navigate back again.

Technical Information

  • Name - skin
  • Typical Content - 'hmrc' or 'businesslink' or 'directgov'
  • Expires – End of session
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