Prove who you are before we will allow you to register

[MikeD88]

For more than six weeks I have been trying to set up an account that will allow my wife to submit her tax return on-line
When trying to register we are asked to prove identity by answering questions such as, "Do you have a UK passport", "When was the last time you applied for a credit card" etc. All of this information is apparently held by a credit rating agency. If you answer incorrectly too many times you are locked out for seven days - not reduced to 24 hours.
So we tried the Verify system using the Post Office. Provide details of credit cards - all accepted. Provide photo of your passport plus a "Selfie" - keeps rejecting the passport photo although the Post Office help line cannot understand why. Can we take the documents into the local Post Office? No, it has to be done on line.
Spent hours telephoning the Tax Office help line. Get told , yes a lot of people are having difficulty registering but don't worry we are adding a by-pass button which will allow you to complete the tax return. No by-pass button has been added.
No problem, we will set you up with a new Government Gateway account - wait a few days for the activation code to come through the post then that will by-pass the registration problems and take you straight to the tax return page. It does not - it starts asking the same prove your identity questions all over again.
Back on the telephone, it takes about thirty minutes each time before you get to talk to anyone. Again, no problem just input your bank account details or your P60 details. Fine where do I do that? Reply "I don't know, I'm new and this system is new"
Then advised to use the commercially available software as advertised on the HMRC website and that will by-pass all this registration requirement. So, I now need to pay about £10 to use the software with the risk that the software will also not be able to send the tax return as my wife's account is not registered.
Latest advice from the help line - download the paper tax return. Pay the £100 penalty for late filling and then appeal against the penalty.
All we are doing is trying to do is complete the tax return and pay any tax due. Why have HMRC introduced such an unprofessional system while at the same time encouraging people to go on-line.
What happens to people with limited access to computers and limited ability to use them?
Any suggestions on how to complete an on-line tax return, on time without paying for something we should be able to do for free?