Making Digital Taxing

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I like to think I'm fairly tech savvy (and, of course, environmentally aware). So a few years ago, approaching pensionable age, I thought I'd negotiate and claim a state pension the modern, paperless way – by setting up an online Government Gateway account.

It all went well, until I had to prove my identity. Being a responsible citizen who avoids burning oil unnecessarily, I had neither a photo driving licence nor a passport; in the absence of these, the Supreme Computer declared that it couldn't identify me, and that was that! In the event, I was happy to defer the pension for a year or two, as I had other sources of income and, as DWP's letter said, "you may get extra money if you put off claiming your State Pension". I was subsequently told that the Government was aware its Gateway was inaccessible to awkward Greenies like me. "Don't worry" they said, "a brand new system is on the way!".

On reaching three-score years and ten, I successfully limped through a different set of official hoops, to renew my dusty old provisional (paper) driving licence with a photocard one. That, I fondly imagined, should make future ID checks a cinch! Accordingly, and having received an unexpected demand from HMRC for a retrospective tax return, I made a fresh attempt to register with the new (and, alarmingly, still in beta test) GOV.UK One system. Again, the initial stages went smoothly: I created a username, password and two-step authentication, and entered the requested details from my new driving licence. Then the fun started; it wanted to match my face to the photo. Now, I'm perfectly able to create and submit suitable image files from my computer, but instead I found myself being drawn, unwillingly, towards installing a smartphone "app". And I have a guiding principle to minimise my dependence on a vulnerable little smartphone – I've only ever installed about a dozen third-party "apps", strictly ones that are essential to my daily life. So instead, I chose the other option: to present myself, along with said licence, at a Post Office.

Of course, it had to be a certain type of Post Office – not the convenient one down the road in the village. So I devoted a morning to travelling by bus to the nearest major town, queuing at the Post Office counter, waiting around until a "verification" came through from Head Office, then returning home with a "receipt" as proof of my travails. Later that day, an email arrived: "To view the result of your identity check, you need to sign in to your GOV.​UK One Login […] After you continue, you'll be able to view the result of your identity check".

To cut a long story short, I logged in several times during the next few days, and on each occasion, after plodding through the two-step login process and meticulously following all the on-screen instructions, I saw not a single reference to the result of my identity check. Instead, I invariably landed back at the "We need you to prove your identity to use this service" prompt from which my journey had originally started. I spent a further week exchanging messages and emails with "GDS Support Services". Their first response repeated the instructions I'd already followed, and further requested my full name, email address, mobile number, customer letter expiry date, and the date I'd received their previous email. A day after I'd provided these, back came another email demanding exactly the same details, plus how many identity documents I'd taken to the Post Office, how many days ago, and details of my computer, operating system and web browser version. After a further day, they finally divulged a crumb of information: [verbatim] "You did complete the identity verification via the post office However, you'll only be able to continue to service to complete the application for HMRC if the verification was successful. If after accessing the resume link you're required to prove identity again then verification wasn't successful".

I'll just quote one paragraph from my next long, rather tetchy email (with 9 supporting screenshots): "Please give me a clear statement of the result of my identity check. If it was successful then please communicate that information to your GOV.UK One system, so that I can use it to facilitate my dealings with government departments. If my identity check failed, then I expect you to provide a full explanation of the reason. Without that, I am certainly not going to repeat the entire process, including a journey of 4 miles to Romford and joining a queue at the Post Office, as I fully expect to have wasted a significant amount of time and effort, only to encounter the same problem again".

To which came the reply:"I can see by the images you have shared that the system requires you prove identity again in order to use the service. This means the verification via the post office wasn't successful as mentioned in my previous correspondence. To keep your information safe, we cannot give you any more details about why your identity could not be proven. You can try again to prove your identity with GOV.UK One Login. Either using the One Login app, online with security questions or via the post office again using a different id document to the one used before. Could I suggest that you give us a call please?".

So I phoned the "Technical Service Desk", and after talking me through the login process yet again, a polite and helpful-sounding guy said he would "reset" my account, and I'd get further information by email in 3-5 working days. I put the phone down thinking that big wheels were finally being coaxed into motion… then the email arrived. "Unfortunately, we don't have enough information to be able to reset your account/investigate your issue. We will require a new 6 digit reference code". Cursing fluently by then, I logged in for about the fiftieth time, and tracked down a new number to send back; the next response was: "Unfortunately, you were unable to complete the in-branch Post Office identity verification because one or more of the details you entered in GOV.UK One Login do not match the details on your chosen photo ID. To continue, you'll need to start the identity verification process again. To keep your information safe, we cannot give you any more details about why your identity could not be proven".

With that oft-repeated word unfortunately ringing in my head, at that point I gave up, and joined the queue to speak to HMRC directly by telephone. As time was now of the essence (there were threats of a fine for late submission of the tax return, albeit I made it clear to all and sundry that there was no way I'd pay it), we decided they would send me a paper form by post. A few days later, the pictured envelope arrived; it contained a covering letter saying the requested form SA100 was enclosed. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the envelope except the covering letter. You couldn't make it up, could you?

They did eventually succeed in sending me the form, and even extended the deadline by a couple of weeks. I duly completed and returned it, hopefully to their satisfaction – nothing further has yet been heard. I'm inclined to let sleeping automata lie.

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