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Accountants have been reminded not to rely on the taxman’s free software to complete clients’ returns following a glitch to HMRC’s online repayment system. Rather than depend on the self-assessment software, accountants should invest in commercial applications which cost as little as £30, say tax experts at the ICAEW. The recommendation, from the group’s Tax Faculty, comes as HMRC discovered a problem with its online software designed to let a user request a repayment to a nominee. Users of the system receive an error message ‘Please enter the name of your nominee in the on-screen data field captioned ‘Name of account holder.’ Users can still submit a self assessment return online using HMRC's free software, and can still get repayments but not automatically and not without the taxpayer. The faculty said users should fill in the return as usual, but told them not to complete the overpaid tax page. When the return is submitted the repayment will be recorded on the customer's self assessment account; the taxpayer must then ask HMRC to make the repayment to the nominee. Taxpayers can write to their tax office on form R38 or taxpayers who are registered and enrolled for the self assessment online service can use the ‘request a repayment’ function. The software glitch is under investigation by HMRC, and the department has apologised for any inconvenience caused, the ICAEW said. The group reflected: “As we have said previously, the Faculty recommends members to investigate commercial software - available for as little as £30 - rather than relying on HMRC's online product to complete clients' returns.” Separately, taxpayers have been told they are at the heart of last week’s decision by the NHS to terminate Fujitsu’s contract with its IT programme Connecting for Health. Refreshingly, the verdict was sounded not only by the NHS at the time, but by technology analysts on Friday. “Taxpayers should welcome the fact that NHS CFH has taken the bold step to terminate Fujitsu's contract,” said Ovum analyst Tola Sargeant. “The contracts were established to protect the taxpayer and in this respect they appear to have done their job - the NHS won't have to pay for something that hasn't been delivered.” Jun 3, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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