TaxCalc and passwords

As a user of TaxCalc, you may already be aware that there are varying passwords that you may have setup. This article will cover the different type of passwords that we use, the importance of each and more information on how to reset these if required. 

PLEASE NOTE: For security reasons, TaxCalc are unable to change your details.

Licensing Password Strength

To maintain and safeguard your TaxCalc account, you will need to ensure your licensing passwords comply with the following criteria: 

• Minimum length 12 characters. 
• Must contain letters and numbers. 
• Must contain certain special characters. 
• Must contain upper and lower case characters. 

Please also note that our systems will reject any password that: 

• You’ve already used out of your last 10 passwords
• Is weak or commonly used (such as ‘password’)
• Contains identifiable data such as first name, last name, email, or address,
• Contains identifiable words longer than two characters (e.g. fish123) 

Website/licensing credentials:

When registering an account with TaxCalc, you will initially be asked to input an email address and password. These will be referred to as your website or licensing credentials. These will be used any time you need to log on to the website and to download and license the TaxCalc software. If you are a cloud user, you will have to enable two factor authentication (2FA). This will require a UK phone number to verify the access to your account via a 6-digit text message code. If you need to reset your website password, please see the link for How to reset the TaxCalc website password.

Please note that if you do change these details and TaxCalc is already installed, you may encounter the error message for Incorrect customer account details - TaxCalc could not recognise...

If you are using our practice version of TaxCalc, there may be additional passwords enabled.

Admin password:

All practice software will have a Hub Admin role created. The username is hub admin which is set as default. Some standalone practices will have this option disabled as the automatic login takes place. For more information on how to reset this password, please see our article for How do I reset the Hub admin password in TaxCalc.

User password:

These will be specifically for multi-user offices where a username has been created for different staff members. The usernames are case sensitive and only users with administrator privileges will have the ability to amend user details, including resetting a password. For more information on the process required to reset these, please see the link to our article for How do I change the password for a user?

Secondary licensing credentials:

If you have completed Advanced Security, which is available on your account via the website, you can add on Secondary Licensing Credentials. You can find additional information in our article for How to complete Advanced Security for Cloud Connect Users if this is of interest to you. The Secondary Licensing account allows you to log into the website to download the TaxCalc installer, and can be used to license the TaxCalc application.

The ability to reset this can only be done via the website using the main account credentials.

1. Go to www.taxcalc.com
2. Log in using the website credentials
3. Click on My Account > Edit My Details
4. On the left-hand menu, select Edit Software Licence Details

Here you will be able to amend the username and password. Please note that if you do change these details and TaxCalc is already installed, you may encounter the error message for Incorrect customer account details - TaxCalc could not recognise...

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) secondary accounts:

If you purchase the AML Identity Checking service, you may run the searches through the website. If you are the main account holder, you may not want everyone in the office to have your email and password to log on in order to run these searches. You can create a secondary account specifically for accessing the AML service. For more information on how to do this, please follow the instructions in our article for How to access AML with a secondary account setup. If these details are forgotten, you can follow the same steps but click on Edit instead of Add user.

Postgres/Root database password:

When installing TaxCalc on the server/network version, there is a password associated with the Postgres service which we call the Root database password. This will be needed if you ever need to restore a backup file or if TaxCalc needs to troubleshoot any issues in your database. When completing a restore, the Restore button will not be enabled unless the password matches, so you can attempt as many passwords on this screen as you desire. This may be a password that your IT team have setup and we would recommend contacting them in the first instance if you have any difficulties.

If you are unable to locate the correct password, the support team may be able to assist in retrieving this further. Please email the support team on support@taxcalc.com to request assistance.

Usage passwords:

HMRC & Companies House passwords:

When filing your tax return online, you will need to input your HMRC User ID and password.

Individual(*): TaxCalc does not have the option to see the password in plain text. If you are unable to log on to the HMRC website with your User ID and password, you will need to reset this online or call the online services helpdesk with HMRC. Once you are able to log in to the website, you will need to update the details held in TaxCalc. The process on this can be found in our article for How do I recover my HMRC password?

(* this also includes businesses filing a return on their own behalf (SA100, SA800, SA900, CT600)).

Agent: TaxCalc does not have the option to see the password in plain text. If you are unable to log on to the HMRC website with your User ID and password, you will need to reset this online or call the online services helpdesk with HMRC. Once you are able to log in to the website, you will need to update the details held in TaxCalc. To do this, please follow the instruction as per our article for How do I enter online filing credentials (Practice users)?

For filing to Companies House, there are a few different password reset links (dependent upon the account type that you have). If you are unsure as to which account type you have, you can try to log in to the online portal here and follow the reset link accordingly. Once you have your details, you will need to follow the link for How do I enter online filing credentials (Practice users)? to ensure TaxCalc's details are updated for future submissions.

Password protected clients:

When going through Practice Manager, you have the option to password protect clients of a sensitive nature. The hub admin user (not administrative permissions), won’t be prompted for these passwords whereas all other users will be. Therefore, in order to reset this password, you will be able to open the client with the hub admin login and then change this via the Security page when editing a client.

For more information please see How do I password protect a client record, or remove a password from a protected client?

Encrypted PDF:

TaxCalc offers an add on module called Encrypted PDF. This will allow you to password protect PDF documents for storage and sending to clients. For more information on how this functionality works, see the link to our article for How do I use TaxCalc's Encrypted PDF tool?

Tax return encrypted files:

Historically, all tax returns generated a separate file which would have been saved locally on your machine. Now TaxCalc works within a database but still has the ability to encrypt the tax return file itself. The information on how to do this (and password recovery) can be found in our article for How do I encrypt or password protect my tax return?