Unsatisfactory provision of unique taxpayer references (UTRs) is one of the ‘very many unresolved problems’ faced by agents who file tax returns online, according to Working Together.
The e-filing group’s latest survey results show that the most serious inconveniences experienced by tax agents are:
- Delays by HMRC in issuing UTRs.
- Having to use the taxman’s approved ‘workarounds’ to deal with system inadequacies.
- Misleading design of the Revenue site’s ‘tax due’ screen.
- Late withdrawal of agents’ facility to obtain copies of clients’ statement with payslips attached.
Nevertheless, e-filing appears to have received wide acceptance among agents and taxpayers, said Working Together, and only 4% of respondents felt that filing 2007-08 returns was significantly more difficult than submitting the previous year’s documents.
A number of improvements in HMRC’s e-filing system would encourage greater use, said agents, the most sought-after changes being:
- Faster provision of UTRs.
- Fewer ‘workarounds’
- Faster system for processing agent authorisation.
- Faster receipt of activation codes.
The Working Together poll also found that almost 90% of agents use third-party software for the majority of their e-filed returns, with less than 0.5% considering a move away to HMRC applications.
HMRC’s online guidance was also found to be wanting. Respondents complained of difficulties in finding information, and recommended improvements to layout, links and the search facility, and prompter updates.
The survey received complaints that problems were often difficult to resolve because of the anonymous nature of online filing – and finding an HMRC staff member of staff to take responsibility for an issue is often a struggle.
The majority (65%) of respondents, however, said that they considered the Revenue’s online services helpdesk to be excellent or good – and of those who used the department’s online tax guidance, 85% were happy with it.
More than two-thirds of 2007-08 self assessment personal tax returns were filed online, with three-quarters of those submitted by agents – but, Working Together concluded, the statistics ‘mask very many unresolved problems, some of which are systematic, which waste time and resources’.
