Self-assessment - Daniels predicts #20bn windfall

The introduction of the self-assessment tax system for companies next year will give the Exchequer a one-off #20bn cash boost, the president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation has claimed.

He also warned many large companies were unaware of the impact corporate self-assessment will have on cashflow.

Under the new system, which applies to accounting periods ending after 30 June 1999, companies with taxable profits exceeding #1.5m will be subject to a new quarterly payment regime, which will significantly bring forward due dates. Keith Daniels said few companies had noticed the significant cashflow disadvantages this would bring.

He said: ?Large groups will be out of pocket. It will be three years before the effects of transition to the quarterly basis will become fully apparent and miraculously an election will be an imminent prospect.

?UK plc will have paid #20bn early to the Exchequer and hardly a vote will have been lost. Gordon Brown appears to have mastered the art of plucking geese without generating much hissing.?

He added: ?Treasurers in big corporations are not in touch with their tax departments about this issue.?

The Inland Revenue is sending out the new system?s first demands next month.