SAM101001 - Records: maintain taxpayer record: introduction
It is essential that the SA record is kept up to date and reflects the latest information in respect of the following areas. The provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) apply to SA taxpayer records in the same way as they apply to taxpayer records held on other HMRC computer systems.
Taxpayer name details
Taxpayer address details
Taxpayer NINO
Signals
Agent details
Capacity details
Sources of income
Partner sources
Communication name and address
Taxpayer name details
For ‘Individual’ type taxpayer records (excluding Non Resident Company Landlords) changes to the taxpayer’s name should be made through the Taxpayer Business Service (TBS) using function AMEND TAXPAYER DESIGNATORY DETAILS. This ensures that information in the different databases is kept in line.
For Non Resident Company Landlords and taxpayer types other than ‘Individual’, changes to the taxpayer’s name should be made using SA function AMEND TAXPAYER NAME AND ADDRESS.
Taxpayer address details
For ‘Individual’ type taxpayer records changes to the taxpayer’s base address should be made through TBS using function AMEND TAXPAYER DESIGNATORY DETAILS.
For Non Resident Company Landlords and taxpayer types other than ‘Individual’, changes to the taxpayer’s base address should be made using SA function AMEND TAXPAYER NAME AND ADDRESS.
Note: Information updated on SA and TBS will be passed to the Citizen’s Identification (CID) framework at 6.00pm each day. Updates made after this time will not be passed to the CID framework until 6.00pm the following day.
If you enter a new address that is outside the area covered by your office you may receive a transfer prompt. The transfer prompt is explained at SAM103120.
Taxpayer NINO
There are very few circumstances when you can set up a taxpayer up in SA without a national insurance number (NINO). If a taxpayer has been set up in SA without a NINO the record will be allocated a temporary reference number. You must follow the guidance at SAM101105 and SAM101106 if you find we hold records for the same taxpayer under a NINO and a temporary reference number.
Signals
A range of signals is held on the SA record. ‘Individual’ type taxpayer records (excluding Non Resident Company Landlords) can be amended through TBS. Non Resident Company Landlords and taxpayer type records other than ‘Individual’ can be amended in SA.
Details of the signals available in each SA function are contained in the Function topic attached to each taxpayer type throughout this section.
Agent details
If the taxpayer has appointed an agent to act, the correct national agent code should always be present on the taxpayer’s SA record. The taxpayer record can only contain details of one agent.
The Agent Maintainer Team within the Central Agent Authorisation Team (CAAT) at Longbenton deal with the setting up and amending of all agent records in SA.
Capacity details
The SA system will permit details of up to five persons or bodies currently acting in capacity to be entered.
It is important that capacity details are correctly entered onto the SA record in order that correspondence can be sent to the correct recipient.
The capacity fields on the SA record may be used to direct correspondence to your office. This will only happen where the Statement Control Officer agrees to inhibit issue of Statements of Account to the taxpayer. For more information see section ‘Statement Issue’ (SAM131000 onwards)
Sources of income
Maintaining the sources of income details will enable the following aspects of the taxpayer’s affairs to be kept up to date
- Business name and address
- Trading source(s) and TCNs
- Main source of income
- SA Return profile
Partner sources
Maintaining the partner sources of income will ensure that the correct links are made with the partnership records.
Communication name and address
If the taxpayer indicates that correspondence should be sent to a name / address other than his / her own name and base address, the correspondence name and / or address must be entered on the SA record to ensure that output is issued using those details.
