HMRC Self Assessment Cessation beta
HMRC's Self Assessment Cessation beta assessment report
Self Assessment Cessation
| Assessment date: | 2 April 2025 |
| Stage: Type: | Beta Assessment |
| Result: | Red |
| Service provider: | HMRC |
Previous assessment reports
Service description
This service aims to solve the problem of…
- requesting to leave Self Assessment – a user journey that involves a user turning off the notice to file with HMRC, such as Cessation.
Service users
This service is for…
-
users who are self-employed who may want to stop filing with HMRC if they no longer have income.
-
users who have non-trading income (for example landlords) who may want to stop filing with HMRC if they no longer have income.
-
users who are HMRC staff, for example caseworkers, who process requests and provide support and guidance to the customer
Things the service team has done well:
-
the team has developed its understanding of the whole problem and has rescoped accordingly, for example, by including the ending of self-employment alongside Self Assessment cessation.
-
the team has developed detailed service maps, including one for the offline options for customers.
-
the team is working well with a range of internal teams and suppliers, for example: creating a dedicated team of cessation caseworkers; working with the letters team to improve and align letters with the new service; and with Pega to make the caseworking system more efficient.
-
by using existing customer data, the team has designed a short and simple user journey for customers.
-
well rounded Performance Framework with metrics that clearly link to hypotheses and user needs
-
the team were eager to explain how they had improved their ways of working over time, such as being included in elaboration sessions, having more efficient communications on requirements
-
it is impressive that not only are the team making source code open where appropriate but they are also contributing to a Pega marketplace allowing for components to be easily shared resulting in a consistent experience for users and reducing development time for future projects
1. Understand users and their needs
Decision
The service was rated red for point 1 of the Standard
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
-
research observing users interacting with the private beta service in real time to identify additional needs
-
web analytics on the digital service. This will allow them to monitor user behaviour during the private beta, measure service performance against key metrics, and use the insights to inform ongoing user research and design decisions
-
testing the support model to ensure it meets user needs and functions effectively in practice
Progress of the points mentioned below will be reviewed, however outcomes must not prevent the service moving into beta:
-
feedback from users of the private beta service through surveys and follow-up interviews
-
ethnographic research with external users, to gain richer contextual insights that may be missed through remote methods.
2. Solve a whole problem for users
Decision
The service was rated green for point 2 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service
- continue to review and refine the scope of the problem to ensure the new service solves a whole problem for users.
3. Provide a joined-up experience across all channels
Decision
The service was rated green for point 3 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service
- continue to work closely with GDS to ensure that the GOV.UK element of the end-to-end journey is as easy to navigate as the new part of the service.
4. Make the service simple to use
Decision
The service was rated green for point 4 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service
-
continue to look for additional ways to use existing customer data, for example, email address or to alert customers about specific outstanding tax returns (rather than ‘If you’ve not sent your tax return…’).
-
consider experimenting with different ways of describing the option to withdraw from a past year’s Self Assessment to see whether take-up is affected. (Currently ‘I want to remove the need to file a tax return for specific tax years’.)
-
on the page headed Class 2 National Insurance contributions, consider asking customers ‘Do you still want to remove the need to send a tax return for [this/these] tax years?’ Rather than ‘Do you want to continue with your request?’ – may avoid any confusion about what the ‘request’ is.
5. Make sure everyone can use the service
Decision
The service was rated red for point 5 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
- a completed accessibility audit for the service,
6. Have a multidisciplinary team
Decision
The service was rated green point 6 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service
-
continue to review whether multidisciplinary skills remain on the team and have a remediation plan if this is not the case
-
ensure plans are in place to upskill new team members on the service as quickly as possible
7. Use agile ways of working
Decision
The service was rated green for point 7 of the Standard.
8. Iterate and improve frequently
Decision
The service was rated amber for point 8 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
-
frequent iterations based on analytical data
-
attempting to remove delays of Google Analytics integration into the service to maximise the analysis of usage data
9. Create a secure service which protects users’ privacy
Decision
The service was rated green for point 9 of the Standard.
10. Define what success looks like and publish performance data
Decision
The service was rated amber point 10 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
-
continuous use of measurement to drive service iterations. We would have expected to see more service improvements driven by data at this stage of the project lifecycle.
-
analytics in place to understand the user experience and therefore support the team with understanding where to focus design iterations and problem areas for the users
11. Choose the right tools and technology
Decision
The service was rated green for point 11 of the Standard.
12. Make new source code open
Decision
The service was rated green for point 12 of the Standard.
13. Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns
Decision
The service was rated green for point 13 of the Standard.
14. Operate a reliable service
Decision
The service was rated green for point 14 of the Standard.
Next Steps
Red
In order for the service to continue to the next phase of development, it must meet the Standard and get CDDO spend approvals. The service must be reassessed against the points of the Standard that are rated red at this assessment.