HMRC Login for Driver Employers: PAYE Online Account FAQ
Your HMRC login for company payroll is the business tax account, not the personal tax account you use for your own tax. Sign in with the company's user ID and use PAYE for employers there. This FAQ maps each payroll job, from the monthly FPS to paying HMRC by the 22nd, to the right login.
Published 12 November 2026 · Updated 12 November 2026
Your HMRC login for company payroll is the business tax account, not the personal tax account you use for your own tax. If you drive through your own limited company and pay yourself a salary, or you employ drivers for a small fleet, sign in with the user ID created for the employer and use the PAYE for employers service there. Your personal login stays for your tax code and your own return.
This FAQ is written for director-drivers and fleet owners who run payroll. It covers which HMRC login does which payroll job, where the two employer references fit, how to let an accountant or a team member in, and how to untangle a director's login from the company's. If you are locked out, use our guide to recovering a lost Government Gateway ID. If payroll is brand new to you, start with our step-by-step PAYE payroll set-up guide.
We have kept to the employer side of the HMRC login throughout. Everything here comes from GOV.UK guidance checked in November 2026, and where GOV.UK is silent we say so instead of guessing.
Key takeaways
- Company PAYE lives in the business tax account, so payroll needs the company's HMRC login. Your own tax lives in your personal tax account. Keep the two sign-ins separate.
- Since 9 February 2026, new individual HMRC customers create a GOV.UK One Login. Existing Government Gateway users keep their user ID until HMRC contacts them.
- To add PAYE for employers you need the employer PAYE reference and the 13-character Accounts Office reference from HMRC's registration letter.
- Send each Full Payment Submission (FPS) on or before payday, any Employer Payment Summary (EPS) by the 19th, and pay HMRC electronically by the 22nd of the next tax month.
- Give your accountant agent authorisation and give staff their own team member access. Nobody else should ever use your password.
What is an HMRC login for PAYE employers?
An HMRC login for PAYE employers is the sign-in that opens the business tax account holding the PAYE for employers service. The employer uses it to see what is owed, pay HMRC, read employee tax code notices and handle alerts. It is separate from any director's personal HMRC login.
Think of it as the company's front door at HMRC. The salary you draw as a director is reported through that door, but your own tax position sits behind a different one.
Key terms
- Business tax account: HMRC's online account for business taxes such as PAYE for employers, VAT and Corporation Tax.
- Personal tax account: your own HMRC account as an individual, showing your tax code, National Insurance record and Self Assessment.
- Government Gateway user ID: an HMRC sign-in of up to 12 characters, used with a password and an access code.
- GOV.UK One Login: the newer government sign-in that uses an email address and password.
- Employer PAYE reference: the reference that identifies the company's PAYE scheme. It appears on payslips, P60s and in payroll software.
- Accounts Office reference: the 13-character reference you quote when you pay HMRC for PAYE.
- Real Time Information (RTI): the system for reporting pay to HMRC each time you pay someone.
- FPS and EPS: the Full Payment Submission reports pay and deductions; the Employer Payment Summary claims reductions, such as statutory pay.
Which HMRC login do I use for company payroll?
Use the company's business tax account for anything about the company as an employer: the PAYE bill, payments, late alerts and employee notices. Use your personal tax account for your own tax code, National Insurance record and Self Assessment. Most director-drivers need both sign-ins, because the company and its director are different taxpayers.
The muddle starts because one person sits in both chairs. On payday you are the employee receiving a salary. Ten minutes later you are the director paying the employer's bill. HMRC treats those as two customers with two records, and the login you use decides which record you see.
Fleet owners face a slightly different split. If you run the fleet as a sole trader and employ drivers, the PAYE scheme is registered to you as an individual employer. If the fleet runs through a company, it belongs to the company. Our limited company accounts service sees the mix-up most often in the year after incorporation, when everything has been added to the old sole-trader login.
Do I use Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login for PAYE?
If the company already has a business tax account, keep using the Government Gateway user ID that opened it. HMRC opened GOV.UK One Login to new individual customers on 9 February 2026, and says existing Government Gateway users need take no action until contacted. Check HMRC's sign-in page before you create anything new.
According to HMRC's announcement about GOV.UK One Login for new customers, the rollout is gradual. People who already hold a One Login for another government service still use their Government Gateway for HMRC for now. HMRC's page on signing in to its online services lists both methods and describes One Login sign-in details as being for personal tax services. The announcement does not give a date for moving company accounts.
Our practical reading, as at November 2026, is simple. Do not rebuild a working company account under One Login. If you are a new employer with no HMRC sign-in at all, choose the option to create new sign-in details, follow the route the service offers, and get your accountant to confirm the account was created for the company rather than for you personally.
How do I get the employer PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference?
You get both when the company registers as an employer. GOV.UK's register as an employer guidance says you must register before the first payday, not more than 2 months before you start paying people, and even if the only person you employ is yourself as sole director. HMRC sends the references by letter.
File that letter with the company's records on day one. The employer PAYE reference identifies the scheme and goes into your payroll software. The Accounts Office reference is the one you quote when paying. Drivers who swap them around are one of the commonest reasons a PAYE payment goes astray.
How you registered also matters for the login. HMRC's PAYE Online guidance for employers says employers who register online are enrolled for PAYE Online automatically. If you registered by phone or post, you must enrol separately before you can use the service.
How do I add PAYE for employers to the business tax account?
Sign in to the company's business tax account, choose to add a tax, duty or scheme, pick PAYE for employers and enter both references. If you were not enrolled automatically, HMRC posts an activation code. GOV.UK says it arrives within 10 days and must be used within 28 days of the date on the letter.
- Find HMRC's registration letter showing the employer PAYE reference and the Accounts Office reference.
- Sign in to the business tax account with the company's user ID, not your personal one.
- Choose the option to add a tax, duty or scheme, then select PAYE for employers.
- Enter the employer PAYE reference (the tax office number before the slash, then the rest) and the Accounts Office reference.
- Watch the post for the activation code and diary the 28-day deadline printed on the letter.
- Sign back in, enter the code under PAYE for employers and check the service now shows on the account home page.
- If your payroll software asks for HMRC sign-in details to send RTI reports, give it the company's credentials, not yours.
If the 28 days run out, GOV.UK says you have to enrol again. Resist the urge to open a second business account to dodge the wait. A scheme enrolled in two places causes far more trouble than a two-week delay.
Which login do I need for each payroll job?
Each routine payroll job belongs to one login. Company jobs happen in the business tax account or in your payroll software using the company's credentials. Your own tax code and return sit in your personal tax account. An accountant uses their own agent account. The table below is the map we give new director-driver and fleet clients.
| Payroll job | Where you do it | Whose sign-in | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check what the company owes for PAYE | Business tax account, PAYE for employers | Company user ID or a team member | From the 10th of the next tax month |
| Send the FPS | Payroll software, such as HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools | Company credentials held in the software | On or before each payday |
| Send an EPS (only if needed) | Payroll software | Company credentials held in the software | By the 19th of the next tax month |
| Pay the PAYE bill | Company bank, quoting the Accounts Office reference | Company bank login | By the 22nd of the next tax month (cheque by the 19th) |
| Read staff tax code notices | Business tax account, PAYE for employers | Company user ID or a team member | Whenever HMRC issues them |
| Check your own tax code and NI record | Personal tax account | Director's own sign-in | Any time, and after each pay change |
| File your own Self Assessment, if you need to | Personal HMRC account | Director's own sign-in | Online by 31 January |
| Let an accountant run PAYE | Agent request approved in the business tax account | Company administrator approves; agent uses own account | Before they file anything |
The dates in the table come from GOV.UK's guide to reporting payroll to HMRC, which explains that a tax month starts on the 6th. So pay made on 28 October 2026 falls in the tax month ending 5 November, and its PAYE is due by 22 November 2026.
Can I run payroll myself with Basic PAYE Tools?
Yes, if the business has fewer than 10 employees. GOV.UK describes Basic PAYE Tools as free HMRC payroll software that works out tax and National Insurance and sends the figures to HMRC. You must be registered as an employer and hold a PAYE Online login. HMRC says it is not designed for agents or bookkeepers.
For a one-director company paying a steady salary, it is usually enough. Fleet owners with several drivers on changing hours tend to outgrow it, because starters, leavers, pension duties and holiday pay all pile up. At that point a commercial package or a payroll bureau holding agent access often saves time.
When do I report and pay PAYE each month?
Send the FPS on or before each payday. If you have something to claim, send an EPS by the 19th of the next tax month. Pay HMRC by the 22nd of the next tax month if you pay electronically; a posted cheque must reach HMRC by the 19th. Quarterly payers pay by the 22nd after the quarter ends.
Quote the 13-character Accounts Office reference every time. GOV.UK's PAYE payment pages add that for an early or late payment you add four extra digits showing the tax year and tax month, and that a payment under the wrong reference may be delayed or set against a different bill. If you pay through HMRC's online payment service, it works out those digits for you.
Do not file the FPS weeks ahead to get it out of the way. GOV.UK warns that reporting too early can mean sending a corrected FPS later, so file on or shortly before the actual payday.
How do I authorise an accountant to run the company's PAYE?
Use a proper agent authorisation, never the company's HMRC login details. HMRC's guidance on authorising an agent says you can do this through an online service or the business tax account, and that an authorised PAYE agent can see your employees' personal and financial information. The agent then signs in with their own agent account.
In practice your accountant sends a request, and you approve it while signed in as the company. If the link opens your personal tax account, sign out and sign in again with the company's user ID. The request is for the employer, so it needs the account that holds PAYE for employers.
PAYE agent access is not the same as connecting software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. That is a separate authority covered in our guide to HMRC login and MTD software authorisation.
Can a bookkeeper or office manager have their own login?
Yes. The administrator of the business tax account can add a team member and give them access without sharing the company's HMRC login. GOV.UK's guidance on managing team members says you sign in as an administrator, select manage account, choose to add a team member and enter their details.
This suits a fleet where a partner or office manager checks the PAYE bill while the owner is out driving. Give each person their own access, and remove it on the day they leave. That leaves a clean trail of who did what, which matters if HMRC ever queries a payment.
What if my personal login and the company login got mixed up?
First list the services showing in each account, then decide where each belongs. Company taxes such as PAYE for employers and Corporation Tax belong in the company's account. Your own Self Assessment belongs in your individual account. If a service sits in the wrong place, ask HMRC's online services helpdesk how to correct it rather than enrolling twice.
- You can see the company's PAYE bill but not your tax code: you are signed in to the company's account, not your own.
- Your accountant's request will not link to PAYE: the scheme may be enrolled under a different user ID from the one you used to approve it.
- You hold two or three user IDs and cannot remember which is which: sign in to each, note the services on the home page, and keep that list (not the passwords) in the company file.
- One user ID has gone missing altogether: follow the recovery steps first, then sort out which services it held.
Our earlier HMRC login guide for Birmingham drivers explains the personal side of signing in. This article stays on the employer side so you can see where the two meet.
Do I still need my personal login if I am paid through payroll?
Yes. Your personal tax account shows the tax code HMRC gives the company for your salary and your National Insurance record, so it is worth checking after every pay change. Some director-drivers also have to file Self Assessment, for example because of other income. Our director Self Assessment guide covers when.
Illustrative example: one month's payroll for a director-driver
This illustrative example uses an invented driver and an invented company, not a real person. Rafi drives private hire full time through Rafi Cars Ltd, where he is the sole director and the only employee. The company pays him a salary of £1,000 a month, £12,000 for the 2026/27 tax year.
According to HMRC's rates and thresholds for employers in 2026/27, the personal allowance and primary threshold are both £12,570, so Rafi pays no income tax or employee National Insurance on a standard tax code. His pay is above the £5,000 secondary threshold, so the company owes employer National Insurance at 15% on the excess: £7,000 × 15% = £1,050 for the year.
Because Rafi is the only director and the only employee liable for employer National Insurance, GOV.UK's eligibility rules mean the company cannot claim Employment Allowance. GOV.UK's page on National Insurance for company directors sets out a standard annual earnings period method and an alternative method. Rafi's payroll uses the standard one, which works on his total pay for the year so far, so the employer charge only starts once that total passes £5,000. That happens in month 6; from then on the company owes £150 a month.
| Date (illustrative) | Payroll job | Login used | Figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 28 October 2026 | Payday: software sends the FPS for tax month 7 | Company credentials in the payroll software | £1,000 gross, £0 tax, £0 employee NI, £150 employer NI |
| Tuesday 10 November 2026 | Checks the PAYE bill in PAYE for employers | Company business tax account | £150 due |
| Thursday 19 November 2026 | No EPS needed (nothing to claim this month) | None | £0 |
| Thursday 19 November 2026 | Pays HMRC from the company account, quoting the Accounts Office reference | Company online banking | £150 paid ahead of the 22 November deadline |
| Tuesday 24 November 2026 | Checks his own tax code is unchanged | Rafi's personal tax account | No action needed |
Four jobs, three different logins, one month. Rafi pays on the Thursday because 22 November 2026 falls on a Sunday and he wants cleared funds in place. His year-to-date employer National Insurance after month 7 is £300, and by 5 April 2027 it will reach the £1,050 annual total. Under the alternative method, which GOV.UK says is common for directors paid regularly, the monthly amounts would look different, with a check at the end of the tax year. Ask whoever runs your payroll which method it uses.
What are the most common PAYE login mistakes, and what does each trigger?
Most PAYE login mistakes come from using the wrong account or the wrong reference. Each one has a predictable knock-on effect, from a failed agent request to a payment that HMRC cannot match. The table below sets out the errors we see most among driver employers and what happens next.
| Mistake | What it triggers |
|---|---|
| Adding company PAYE to the director's personal login | Agent and team member access fails or links to the wrong taxpayer, usually close to a deadline |
| Paying with the employer PAYE reference instead of the Accounts Office reference | GOV.UK says the payment may be delayed or used to pay a different tax bill |
| Letting the activation code pass 28 days | You have to enrol again and wait for a new code |
| Paying salary before registering as an employer | GOV.UK requires registration before the first payday; late reports then need fixing |
| Sending the FPS late or not at all | Late reporting alerts in PAYE for employers, with possible penalties (check GOV.UK for the current rules) |
| Paying HMRC after the 22nd | GOV.UK says you may have to pay interest and penalties |
| Sharing the company password with staff or an adviser | No record of who did what, and no clean way to cut off access later |
How UK Driver Accountants helps
UK Driver Accountants works only with drivers, on fixed fees from £20 a month, and we are independent of any ride-hailing app. Our payroll service for driver companies and fleets covers employer registration, the monthly FPS and EPS, reminders for the 22nd and year-end forms, all through agent authorisation so your HMRC login stays yours. Fleet owners can add fleet accounts, and you can compare plans on our pricing page.
Conclusion
The HMRC login question for driver employers comes down to one rule: company payroll in the company's account, your own tax in yours. Hold the two employer references safely, file on payday, pay by the 22nd and give everyone else their own access. If your logins are already tangled, or you want payroll off your plate, contact our driver tax team and we will map it out with you.
Last reviewed 12 November 2026 by the UK Driver Accountants tax team.
This article is general information for the 2026/27 tax year and is not personal tax advice. Speak to a qualified accountant about your own circumstances. If HMRC has opened a dispute or issued penalties, we recommend professional representation.
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