Taxman told to improve self-assessment training

Taxman told to improve self-assessment training

Some £2.8bn lost through self-assessment errors

HMRC

At least 30% of self assessment tax returns contain errors, according to a
report published today by an influential House of Commons committee.

The public accounts committee report will say that the calculation errors
could be costing the state as much as £2.8bn in lost tax revenues.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the PAC, said: ‘Taxpayers are increasingly going to
the wire when it comes to filing their tax returns, despite HM Revenue &
Customs advertising campaigns.

The department then has to process a lot of returns in a short time, leading
to more official errors. Different filing dates for different groups of
taxpayers would spread the load.

‘Taxpayers themselves make errors in about a third of tax returns, costing an
enormous £2.8bn in lost tax. HMRC needs to provide clear information on how to
avoid the most common mistakes. It should improve the training of its call
centre staff and the access to specialist advice.’

About £16bn a year is collected from self-assessment, with forms going out to
an estimated 10 million people. HMRC reached its target of having 90.6% of forms
returned by the 31 January deadline, but will have to reach 93% by January 2008.

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource