As we move into December thoughts start to turn to Christmas, though of course the retail industry has been celebrating it since October. And for tax agents it is the run up the Self Assessment filing deadline at the end of January.
I worked in SA in the early 2000s and heard many tales from agents then of clients bringing in records days or even hours before the deadline, expecting accounts to be prepared and returns submitted. My impression is that there is a better awareness now. We received the highest proportion yet of SA tax returns online by 31 January 2013 and hope to bust this in 2014.
HMRC is working to improve the online customer experience for Self Assessment. As part of this, we’re currently asking for views on the latest legislative changes required to enable the delivery of our paperless Self Assessment “exemplar” digital service.
The consultation is published on the GOV.UK website.
The consultation document poses four questions about the changes:
- Are the products HMRC intends to make available online the right ones?
- What’s the best way to get customer consent where customers do not personally access the system?
- Does the draft legislation work as intended?
- Are HMRC’s assessments of the various impacts of these proposals correct?
Keen to get your views.
Please note that this blog is part of our informal engagement with agents - if you want to make a formal response to the consultation, you’ll need to send it to the contact listed in the consultation document.
