|
|
31 Jan 2008
The self-assessment tax return deadline has been pushed back by a day, HM Revenue & Customs has confirmed, after the online filing system went down on deadline day.
The deadline will now be 1 February at midnight rather than the original deadline of 31 January.
The department said the system would be up-and-running again shortly. It went down at around 10:30am on Thursday.
Advisers expressed frustration at the delay.
'It's completely unacceptable that a State-operated system catering for the entire population can't cope with an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 filings in one day, whereas large corporate IT systems regularly cope with volumes vastly in excess of this,' said Baker Tilly's head of tax George Bull.
Other IT systems at HMRC that enocuntered difficulties included included the electronic filing for the Construction Industry Scheme, Corporation Tax, PAYE, Pension Schemes and Stamp Taxes online.
Advisers believe that the IT problems lie with HMRC's systems as people using third-party IT systems had not encountered any problems.
The self-assessment system was back up at 3.30pm on Thursday and 104,000 people were able to file their returns, adding to the 3.6m returns filed online earlier.
You may also like
Search thousands of financial jobs:
£45000 - £60000 per annum + Benefits: Pro-Tax: Love tax but not the time sheets? London ...
Search thousands of financial jobs:
Careers
Search for jobs
Click to search our database of all the latest accountancy roles
Create a profile
Click to set up your profile and let the best recruiters find you
Jobs by email
Sign up to receive regular updates with the latest roles suitable for you
Briefings
By looking at the reasons supplier statements became unfashionable, and the reasons why it is different today, this paper delves into the many benefits that can be obtained by automating the process.
Having a real and true view of your organisation’s current financial position, and having the right systems and processes in place, will ensure that you can make strong choices and are ready to capitalise on opportunities
AccountancyAgeInsight is a frequently updated resource centre for finance professionals, offering a free and easy-to-use digital library of briefings, white papers and other information resources. 
Visitor comments Add your comment
Aye right
It was down well before 10.30 - more like 9 that I 1st got the error - and its still not working - managed to log-in only to be told its unavailable.
Just a different screen - and no news on when it will really be working!
Posted by: G, 31 Jan 2008 | 00:00