Government pledge to have HMRC recognise NI driving licence

A delegation of DUP MPs has met with a senior Treasury figure to establish why a Northern Ireland driving licence is not recognised by HMRC.
By Mark Rainey
Published 13th May 2020, 17:41 BST
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP’s leader in Westminster.Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP’s leader in Westminster.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP’s leader in Westminster.

The issue came to light when a number of self-employed people complained their normally valid form of ID was being rejected when applying for financial support online.

Both the NI driving and Irish passport are deemed invalid during the process to claim assistance from the government’s Self Employed Income Support scheme.

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The scheme has been set up as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday afternoon, MPs Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Gavin Robinson and Jim Shannon asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman, to address the anomaly.

Afterwards, Sir Jeffrey said: “Self-employed people are under incredible pressure having lost much of their income. This scheme is a lifeline for them, but they need to get enrolled. Clearly in hastily setting up of the system, the necessary back office database was not built to process or accept these two forms of ID.”

The Lagan Valley MP added: “We welcome the commitments from both the Northern Ireland Secretary of State and Mr Norman that the matter will be resolved. The computer may say ‘no’ but the Government certainty says ‘yes’.

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“The important issue is that no man or woman is excluded because of this administrative matter. If anyone has run into this problem and cannot get any other form of ID, they should contact their local DUP MP who can raise matter with Treasury and ensure it is resolved.”

Responding to a News Letter enquiry on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for HMRC said: “We want to reassure those in Northern Ireland that they will not be excluded from the scheme. Anyone can check their eligibility for the scheme using our eligibility checker, and if they meet the criteria, can apply.

“Anyone who has engaged with us online before, to file their return for example, should be able to use their existing credentials to claim online. Anyone going online with us for the first time can use the multiple choice questions option to attempt to verify their identity. If they are unable to verify they are still able to claim their grant using our telephone helplines.”

Related topics:HMRCMPsDUPJeffrey Donaldson