Tax Check for a Private Hire Licence: How It Works

When you renew a taxi or private hire driver licence, you must first complete an online tax check with HMRC and give your licensing authority the 9-character code it produces. Without that code the authority cannot process your application. The check itself takes a few minutes if your tax affairs are in order, and it is where problems surface if they are not. This guide explains who needs one, what it asks, and how to make sure it goes through first time.

Key takeaways

• A tax check is needed when you renew a licence, or apply for the same type of licence with a different authority.
• First-time applicants do not complete a tax check. They confirm they are aware of their tax obligations instead.
• The tax check code has 9 characters and is valid for 120 days.
• You must complete the check yourself, online, using a Government Gateway user ID.
• The licensing authority sees only that the check was completed, not your tax details.

What is a tax check?

A tax check is HMRC's way of confirming that people who hold certain licences are registered for tax on the income they earn from the licensed trade. HMRC describes it in its guidance on how to complete a tax check for a taxi, private hire or scrap metal licence. It asks questions about how you pay any tax due on that income, and at the end it gives you a tax check code.

The rules have applied in England and Wales since 4 April 2022 and in Scotland and Northern Ireland since 2 October 2023. The check is not a tax return and not an investigation. It does not calculate what you owe. It is a gate: the licence application cannot move forward until the code has been supplied.

Who needs to complete one?

The rules cover taxi driver and private hire driver licences. HMRC's guidance also lists private hire vehicle operator licences in England and Wales. You must complete a tax check if you are:

• renewing a licence;
• applying for the same type of licence you previously held, where it stopped being valid less than a year ago;
• applying for the same type of licence you already hold, but with another licensing authority.

You do not complete a tax check if you have never held a licence of that type, or if your previous one stopped being valid a year or more before this application. In those cases you follow HMRC's guidance on how to confirm your tax responsibilities: the application form links to the guidance and you confirm you are aware of it.

First-time applicant and renewal compared

What the tax check asks

HMRC says that to carry out a tax check you need:

• your sign-in details (a Government Gateway user ID and password);
• to know when you first got your licence;
• the length of your most recent licence;
• how you pay tax on the income you earn from your licensed trade.

That last point is the heart of it. A self-employed driver pays tax through Self Assessment. A driver who operates through their own limited company is dealing with Corporation Tax and usually PAYE. Someone employed by an operator pays through PAYE. You need to know which applies to you and to be properly registered for it.

HMRC also warns that you will not be able to complete the tax check if the information you give does not match its records. An old address, a change of name that was never reported, or income that was never registered are the kinds of thing that stop a check going through.

Step by step: completing the tax check

1. Check your renewal date and work backwards. Give yourself weeks, not days, in case something needs fixing.
2. Make sure you are registered for the right tax. If you are self-employed and have not yet registered, do that first. See our guide to the Self Assessment registration deadline.
3. Bring your returns up to date. If you are behind, our guide on how to catch up on Self Assessment explains the order to tackle things in.
4. Check your details with HMRC. Sign in to your HMRC online account and confirm your name and address are current.
5. Gather the licence information: when you first got the licence and how long the most recent one ran for.
6. Complete the tax check online through GOV.UK, yourself. An adviser cannot do this step for you.
7. Write down the 9-character code exactly as shown and keep a copy.
8. Give the code to your licensing authority with your renewal application, inside the 120 days.

Holding more than one licence

HMRC says you can use one tax check code for more than one application if they are all for the same type of licence, for example a private hire driver licence with two different authorities. If you are applying for different types of licence, such as a private hire driver licence and a private hire vehicle operator licence, you must complete a separate tax check for each.

What your licensing authority sees

Your licensing authority is your local council or, in London, Transport for London. It uses the code to confirm with HMRC that a tax check was completed. That is all it receives. It does not see your earnings, your returns or your tax bill. Equally, a completed tax check is not a statement by HMRC that your returns are correct. It confirms registration, nothing more, and HMRC can still review your returns in the normal way.

Worked example (illustrative)

"Imran", an illustrative example, is a self-employed private hire driver whose driver licence with his local council runs out in late January 2027. He has been registered for Self Assessment for several years.

In early November 2026 he signs in to his HMRC online account and notices it still shows his previous address. He updates it. He then finishes his 2025/26 tax return, which is due online by 31 January 2027, so that everything HMRC holds is current.

In mid-November he completes the tax check on GOV.UK. He enters the year he was first licensed, the length of his current licence, and confirms he pays tax on his driving income through Self Assessment. He receives a 9-character code and submits it with his renewal application the same week. Because the code is valid for 120 days, it comfortably covers the application. The council confirms the check and carries on with the rest of its own renewal process.

Imran and his circumstances are invented for illustration and are not a real client.

Common mistakes

• Leaving it to the last week. If HMRC's records need correcting, that takes time you may not have.
• Asking an accountant to do the check. You must do it yourself. An accountant can prepare the ground, not press the button.
• Not being registered for tax. If you have been earning from driving without registering, sort that out before the check, not during it.
• Assuming one code covers different licence types. A driver licence and an operator licence need a check each.
• Treating the code as a clean bill of health. It confirms registration only. Your returns still need to be complete and accurate.

How we can help

We cannot complete the tax check for you, but we can make sure nothing stands in its way: registering you with HMRC, bringing returns up to date and keeping your records in order all year. Our guide to private hire licence costs and tax relief covers what you can claim for the renewal itself. Our accounting service for private hire drivers starts from £249 per year on a fixed fee. View our pricing, or contact us well before your licence is due for renewal.