HMRC has decided to carry on with its plans to force companies to file tax returns online using iXBRL, despite the fact that the professional accounting bodies have called for a delay.
In a letter to Treasury, David Gauke, the institutes (CIoT, ACCA, ICAS, ATT, ICAEW and the AAT) have asked for a delay as they fear that the new technology is not ready.
Sage have stated that its accounts production programs will not be ready in time.
However, HMRC insist that as from 1 April 2011 iXBRL must be used.
ICAS red flagged this issue in June 2009. However, I am surprised that it has taken the institutes so long to get their act together to write a joint letter about the problem only now (given that implementation is now only 2 months away).
Notwithstanding HMRC's stance, rumour has it that the Treasury will make a decision today as to whether this will really go ahaead.
Tax does have to be taxing.
UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.
Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.
Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations
What is TAXWISE?
TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.
To find out more, please use this link Taxwise
Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.
Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies
HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
The accountancy bodies have no balls. They should refuse to implement bullshit "initiatives" like iXBRL. This is going to cost small business money and headaches. I have just spent a day trying to find a convervter/tagger for one line in a spreadsheet for a client who made a £1000 loss. There is nothing available with a price. It can be outsourced but I am not passing confidential information to an outsourced company. Whoever came up with this f*"@g idea should be taken out and shot.
ReplyDelete1. We file for eight small companies ...only one can be shoe horned into the online pdf provided by HMRC. If that is indicative accross the board, someone has not given a lot of thought to the online service.
ReplyDelete2. There is apparantly a software flaw in that the online system in that it does not recognise Scottish & N Ireland Companies. The Alpha prefix ("SC" for Scotland etc) is not recognised so all companies are assumed to be Registered In England and Wales. The Registered number is in a pre populated field so can't be changed. Neither can you change any errors the Revenue has made in your address etc ... even tho the accounts system leads you to believe you can ... until you try it !
3. Try opening the online pdf with the type of computer a small company might own (ie basic 1 mb RAM) It takes around 4mb RAM plus a modern processor ro stop you climbing the wall waiting for it to load.
4. It will be interesting to discover when HMRC intend to start training their staff on iXBRL .. two I spoke to while seeking assistance had not even heard of it ....