ERROR: 'Request failed. Reason unknown. Incident reference [xxxx]...' in IR Secure Mailbox

What to do if you see this error when you try to retrieve mail in the Sage 50 Payroll IR Secure Mailbox.

Your software includes the IR Secure Mailbox feature, which lets you electronically receive notifications from HMRC.

When you try to retrieve new mail, the following error sometimes appears:

'It has not been possible to establish a connection to your HMRC Mailbox.

An error of the following type occurred: HMRC Server Generated.

Request failed. Reason unknown. Incident reference: [unique ID number]'

HMRC investigation

We've raised this issue with HMRC, and they're working on a resolution.

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Retrieve mail again

If you see this error, try to retrieve new mail again later, as the issue is intermittent.

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Check for notifications manually

If you need to check for notifications meanwhile, log in to your Gov.UK account to check them.

For help with doing this, contact HMRC. Apply any notifications you find this way manually in the relevant employee records.

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Contact HMRC

You can help HMRC investigate this issue by gathering the following information:

• The error you're receiving
• The date you first received this error (approximately if exact date isn't available)
• The last date you successfully retrieved notifications (approximately if exact date isn't available)

Once you have this information, contact HMRC's Online Services Helpdesk and provide the details above.

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