HMRC website DOWN as global internet outage blocks Britons from accessing tax accounts

It appears HMRC is among the websites affected by this IT issue with Downdetector reporting nearly 700 complaints from taxpayers attempting to enter the website.

This comes amid a recent surge in website and app outages, which have impacted the ability of consumers to complete payments with retailers and manage their money with banks.

Notably, British taxpayers are unable to sign onto their accounts via the HMRC website.

This is a service used by millions to manage their personal or business tax account, complete Self Assessment form, and pay corporation tax, PAYE for employers and VAT.

Companies and Barclays, including Vodafone and Barclays, have been affected by IT outages in recent months in a blow to customers.

Following Barclays app and online services going down,Lisa Webb, Which?'s consumer expert, broke down the impact on consumers.

She shared: "Technical issues like these can be devastating for people who miss important bill payments, find themselves unable to pay for essential services or risk going overdrawn – issues which could come with knock-on effects like late payment or overdraft penalties, or affect their ability to get credit or borrow money.

"Customers should keep evidence of impacted payments in case they need to make a claim, and in the meantime anyone likely to miss important payments should contact the company involved to ensure they waive any fees."

Alex Reddish, the managing director at Tribe Payments, added: "We are now in a period where we have seen large institutional payment rails fail more frequently than we have ever seen before. I cannot imagine a time when technology oversight was more important.

"For large companies like Facebook, Meta, or AWS, a billion-dollar fine is merely a tax write-off compared to their market cap and annual revenue. Instead, we should consider restricting services. "

He added: "Why allow companies to maintain and deliver the same services when they're not providing credibility or taking responsibility for their role in the ecosystem? In school, misbehaving students are removed from class.

"Why, then, in the world of payments, do we simply ask for money? It sends the wrong message: as long as you make enough money to pay the fine, who cares?"

A HMRC spokesperson said: "We're aware that customers are having problems accessing our online services, as part of global issues affecting Amazon Web Services. We’re working urgently with them on this matter.

"Our phonelines are currently busy as a result, so for anything that isn’t urgent we recommend calling at a later time."

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Here is a list of the some of the websites and apps that have been impacted by today's global internet outage:

• Snapchat
• Zoom
• Roblox
• Clash Royale
• My Fitness Pal
• Life360
• Clash of Clans
• Fortnite
• Canva
• Wordle
• Signal
• Coinbase
• Duolingo
• Slack
• Smartsheet
• PokemonGo
• Epic Games
• PlayStation Network
• Peloton.