Self-assessment (SA) tax returns have had a revamp to make them easier to understand for the UK’s 9.3 million SA tax payers, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said this week.
The new return has fewer questions, simpler language and an improved layout, designed to be easier for those who are self-employed or who don’t use an accountant to complete their return.
The changes include a new ‘additional information’ page for questions completed by relatively few people about less common types of income and reliefs; a new, shorter self-employment page for businesses with an annual turnover of less than £64,000, and an increased limit for completing simpler, abbreviated accounts information.
The changes have been made following a two-year pilot with over 7,000 self-assessment customers to come in in time for the October 31 paper return deadline.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) told the BBC that the changes were a move in the right direction.
“It takes a lot of the heat out of filing the return, but we were not in favour of bringing forward the deadline for paper filing, which used to be at the end of January.”
“There needs to be a concerted campaign to make people realise the deadline has shortened considerably,” he added.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008
