HMRC rejects calls to move online filing deadline

THE TAXMAN has said it will continue with its deadline for corporation tax returns to be filed online despite calls for a delay prompted by concerns that new technology may not be ready.

From 1 April all corporation tax must be filed to HMRC using new data-tagging technology known as iXBRL. But at least one big software provider has said it will not have a full iXBRL technology ready in time.

This week six accountancy institutes wrote to the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, requesting the government push back the implementation deadline.

However, an HMRC spokesman said the deadline remains in place.

“Treasury Ministers will want to consider the representations made by the tax agent representative bodies, but the current plan to mandate the online channel with iXBRL for company tax returns remains in place,” he said.

The institutes believe that accountants face implementation problems as software companies are either not ready for iXBRL, or have only recently released the new technology.

They believe accountants need more time to familiarise themselves with iXBRL software.

However, a spokesman at HMRC said there are more than 30 IT providers who have already delivered iXBRL software. HMRC has also assured tax advisers any difficulty with filing will be treated sympathetically if they have taken “reasonable steps to comply”.

The letter to Gauke was signed by representatives from CIoT, ACCA, ICAS, ATT, ICAEW and the AAT.