SITTING in a Softworld seminar about tax technology, iXBRL, it struck me that iXBRL could be the modern version of Y2K. Everyone believed the switch would cause a big technology problem but in reality it was business as usual.

Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language is a technology used to highlight or tag financial information in company tax returns and accounts. HM Revenue & Customs set the deadline that all corporation tax must be filed in iXBRL format from 1 April 2011.

That date appeared to cause concern for accountants that software wasn't ready, filing returns would take substantially longer, would incur greater costs etc.

I headed over to the iXBRL seminar at Softworld, run by ICAEW tax faculty head Paul Booth, thinking it would be jam packed with accountants trying to understand how to get to grips with the software, moan about its expense and other gripes.

I was shocked to find just 7 other people in attendance. The majority of them represented companies that were small enough to not have complex filing requirements and were able to use HMRC's free software and were just brushing up as to what exactly iXBRL was.

Booth later told me that according to an ICAEW report of IT in accounting practices just 13% of the 800 or so accountants surveyed currently found iXBRL either difficult or very difficult.

It got me thinking, have we made a Y2K out of iXBRL? The switch to filing in this format seems to be a bit like the concerns that computers would all cease functioning at midnight 2000, when really it was all smoke and no fire.

Or are accountants waiting for the two year soft landing (HMRC will take a lenient approach to penalties) to end before taking the situation more seriously?

THE FIGURES showing how successful iXBRL corporation tax filings have inadvertently led to a dispute over the numbers.

From 1 April all corporation tax had to be filed online using iXBRL which highlights information to make financial data easier to compare.

Figures published today on Accountancy Age, sourced from Iris, Sage and HMRC, show the success rate and the number of filers using their software.

There is a dispute over HMRC's success rate, which a certain accountancy software house claims is 76%%. However the taxman is saying 94%

A debate is also brewing that 'not all tax filing software is created equally', skewing the figures' comparability.

Some suppliers can provide full tagging requirements of more than 5,000 tags - while others meet the minimum of around 3,000, which technically means those filed at the lower end are 'easier' to submit.

Today's debate has illustrated the stregth of feeling around wanting to show that their software can do the business.

However, this is just a reflection of the first month. Almost a third of corporation tax is filed towards the end of the year. I believe the proof could be in eating a Christmas pudding.

SO THE GOVERNMENT has decided in its effort to reduce red tape for businesses it is going to change Pay As You Earn (PAYE) technology.

Apparently printed P45s and P60s will cease to exist in the future. Employees will instead have individual online technology profiles, which can be updated by both employers and the taxman, in theory delivering real-time information.

However, it seems the timescale of this implementation is already going askew.

Similar to the introduction of new online tax technology, iXBRL, the institutes are rallying for a delay to implementation - although no delay was granted for iXBRL.

The government's schedule will see HM Revenue & Customs supplying software suppliers such as Capgemini with data information to build the systems by the end of the month. In just a year's time volunteer employers will test the system. Then eight months later in January 2013 the system will be mandated and all companies will have to use them.

Eight months?

If, in this short timeframe, there are teething problems with the software they will have to be reworked and retested before the deadline. As this is an introduction to a new and unfamiliar way of filing PAYE, not to mention unchartered technology, eight months seems too little time to me, and several other bodies including BASDA, CIoT and ICAS.

With iXBRL's introduction this year, HMRC is offering to go easy on companies for the first two years. During this time if there are incorrect tax submissions, or mistakes, because of software, HMRC will refrain from issuing penalties.

What will they do for PAYE which also has brand new technology and an even tighter schedule?

So exchequer secretary to the Treasury David Gauke has declared 1 April D-day for paper filing of corporation tax.

Six of the largest accountancy firms grouped together and wrote a letter to Gauke requesting a six month delay on the 1 April deadline. HMRC mandated all corporation tax must be filed online using a new technology called iXBRL by this date.

But despite almost the entire accountancy profession calling on the government to push back the deadline, the powers that be have rejected their appeal.

By all accounts, delaying iXBRL would have been a relatively easy task for the government and would have garnered a huge amount of goodwill from the accountancy profession by doing so. However, as astounding as it may be, Gauke has made it clear he is sticking by the previously set deadline at all costs.

The institutes are concerned tax advisers will have difficulty understanding, implementing, and purchasing new software needed for this deadline. Concerns have also been raised that the taxman will be under resourced for the flood of advisers with iXBRL questions post 1 April.

Although the government set the deadline date about five years ago, I don't see its fascination with sticking to it - regardless of the consequences.

It seems the government is simply hoping iXBRL and filing will come together at the last minute, and although there could be hiccups, there's nothing too drastic to worry about - therefore the deadline should go as planned.

Personally I think the institutes should start working on their "I told you so" routine, so at least that's ready by 1 April.

SIX ACCOUNTANCY INSTITUTES have gone above HMRC's head and taken their request to delay an internet tax filing technology iXBRL directly to the Treasury.

Many may have already read that the ICAEW, ACCA, CIoT, AAT, ATT and ICAS wrote a letter to David Gauke, secretary to the Treasury, asking him to delay the iXBRL deadline by six months.

From 1 April all corporation tax must be filed to HMRC using the new data-tagging technology.

The argument to delay introduction has been raging between advisers and the taxman for more than a year. Going above HMRC's head however, could have advantages for the private sector.

It is hoped that the coalition government may take the view iXBRL is compliance red tape, introduced by the previous government. The new government has pledged to reduce this complexity.

The campaigners are only asking for half of the iXBRL requirements to be delayed. A tax return includes both accounts and tax data. The private sector is asking for just the accounts information to be filed without using iXBRL technology, for another six months. HMRC doesn't really use that information so what could be the harm?

The accounts information is mainly utilised by Companies House users and it hasn't mandated filing using iXBRL technology until 2013.

This politically could be an easy decision for Gauke. It would keep the accountancy profession happy while cutting red tape for businesses.

I ATTENDED THE ICAEW "Implementing XBRL" roadshow today. It was presented by Paul Booth and Richard Anning, both from the IT faculty.

The event showcased HMRC's, Twinfield's, and Sage's, iXBRL products which most accountants will have to come to terms with if they file corporation tax. It was an opportunity for software vendors (and me) to learn, how prepared accountants are for the upcoming switchover on 1 April 2011.

And, for accountants, to find out what software is available.

Twinfield's founder Andre Kwakernaat raised the obvious and interesting question: Who, of the 80 or so accountants in the room, is planning to conduct a dry run and submit in iXBRL, ahead of the mandatory deadline.

Two people tentatively put their hand up, before thinking better of it.

So we may have a lot of iXBRL virgins next year.

Let's hope HMRC will stick to their promise of taking a "sympathetic" approach to fines for the first two years of implementation.