Taxpayers foot bill for complex forms

With the deadline looming as well as the threat of a £100 penalty – plus a 5% surcharge added on to any amount outstanding – tax payers could end up paying hundreds of extra pounds to the Revenue this year.

According to the Revenue’s recent annual report, calculations are so complicated that even they gets it wrong 20% of the time. ‘Tax calculation guides can be up to 32 pages long depending on the type of level of your income,’ said PKF.

Despite this, getting the calculation wrong is no excuse for the Revenue. It considers late payment of taxes as an usecured loan to the taxpayer.

And the Revenue, which re-named its ‘Collector of Taxes’ branch to the more friendly-sounding ‘Receivables Management Service’ is getting stricter on tax collection, said PKF.

This year they will enforce collection of taxes more vigorously by telephone through a specialist call centre and, if the debt is not paid as promised, they will begin a formal recovery process.

PKF’s director of tax, Peter Penneycard, commented: ‘Those with a financial hangover from Christmas should think twice before delaying tax payments.

‘Inland Revenue interest and surcharges could end up costing more than a commercial loan and be a lot more stressful.’