Budget 06: SA filing deadlines to move
Lord Carter's review of online services offers a big bag of recommendations, accpeted by HMRC
Self assessment deadlines are to shift forward from 2008, as the review of
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs’ online services by Lord Carter was today
accepted by the government.
Lord Carter has recommended that SA returns should be filed by 30 September
on paper, or by 30 November online, a shift from the current 31 January
deadline.
He has also recommended that HMRC aim for ‘universal electronic delivery’ of
tax returns from business and ‘IT-literate individuals’ by 2012.
A bone of contention for accountants, relating to early online filing of SA
and company tax returns and the period that HMRC has to query a return, will be
removed. Instead the enquiry window will begin when the tax return is filed.
HMRC will invest £340m in online service infrastructure over the next nine
years to make them more resilient.
Lord Carter predicted that business and taxpayers should benefit by £175m a
year from the move to online filing by 2012/2013, and the government should save
£84m a year by 2013/2014.