Reasonable excuse claims for problems post 31 October 2008
Self Assessment online filing update for agents
With the new deadline for filing tax returns on paper for individuals, partnerships and trusts drawing closer, members have begun asking what will happen if they try to file online after 31 October, but can’t. The Tax Faculty has been working with the other professional bodies and HMRC to find a way to deal with this, which will minimise the administrative burden.
The short answer is that if you try to file online and can’t, you will need to submit a reasonable excuse claim. This may take the form of a letter attached to the tax return, an entry in the white space on the return, or you can use the newly designed claim form, which has been produced jointly by Working Together and HMRC.
We think that using the form will be best since this will alert the person logging the receipt of the return at HMRC. The claim will then be reviewed promptly by the special group of officers who will be specifically trained to deal with e-filing problems leading to a late submission.
Using the white space is the least attractive solution as this will be more difficult to spot.
Meanwhile, HMRC has also produced a flowchart, Self assessment online - Agent help sheet, to help agents identify whether or not reasonable excuse will apply to individual cases. This Help sheet refers to three annexes which we have provided links to below.
6 October 2008
