GOV.UK Verify (RIP) not the obvious candidate to replace the Government Gateway
The GOV.UK Performance platform tells us that HMRC conducts about 420 million PAYE transactions p.a. That's mainly companies submitting their PAYE returns. Submitting them over the Government Gateway.
Check p.6 of the Red Book and you'll find that HMRC expect to raise £182 billion in income tax in 2016-17 from this source and £126 billion in NI. Most of the £138 billion of VAT depends on returns submitted over the Government Gateway, as does the £43 billion of corporation tax.
Take away the Government Gateway and our public services will be unfunded.
The question is, how will HMRC replace the Government Gateway?
HMRC have been in the digital business for decades. Unlike some people we could mention. Will they replace the Government Gateway with GOV.UK Verify (RIP)?
GOV.UK Verify (RIP) doesn't "know" what a company is. Or a partnership. Or a trust. It's not the obvious choice.
GOV.UK Verify (RIP) operates an identity hub, which connects people and relying parties like HMRC. That could perhaps provide a transport layer for tax returns. But it's not the only option. Just as well, given the questions about the security of the GOV.UK Verify (RIP) identity hub.
Individuals and legal persons have used the Government Gateway for 15 years now. That requires submitting a modest amount of personal information to HMRC and other relying parties to identify us. In the main, that personal information stays with the relevant government department.
You might hope that any replacement for the Government Gateway would be similarly careful with our personal information ...
... in which case, that rules out GOV.UK Verify (RIP) which requires us to reveal colossal amounts of personal information to large numbers of private sector organisations in the UK and abroad.