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Mike Fleming’s concerns about HMRC's proposed new self-assessment system are well founded.
Even if it is assumed that the taxpayer or his agent identifies an error by a third party and this may cause a lot of effort the delays and frustration in correcting the error (especially if the problem was with a bank or building society) may cause hours of anxiety huge amounts of time wasting and potentially enormous costs just to prove the original tax calculations were accurate.
A brief personal example will illustrate. My wife received a note that her tax return was incomplete and an HMRC enquiry commenced.
It eventually transpired that the interest on her ISA had been inaccurately included as taxable on their statutory return to HMRC by the Halifax Building Society. HMRC agreed that a note from the society confirming that this was erroneous would clear matters.
Halifax...
