Online self-assessment tax returns surge
Online filing has hit a record number this year, HMRC reveals
Moira Stuart: new face of self-assessment
A record number of tax payers have filed a self-assessment return online in
the run-up to the 31 January deadline,
HM Revenue and
Customs has revealed.
Despite reports of tax payers panicking as the deadline looms, an HMRC
spokesman confirmed that the department was on course to meet its target of 58%
of tax payers filing online.
‘All the signs are that we are well on the way to achieving the target,’ he
said.
Nearly 2.8 million self-assessment returns have been sent in online between 6
April 2008 and 28 December 2008, an increase of 40% on the same period last
year.
HMRC staff went on strike on 31 January 2007 in protest against thousands of
threatened redundancies in an efficiency drive. However, the HMRC spokesman said
a pay deal with staff had been agreed and he was ‘not aware of any issue that
could spark a strike or any other union activity’.
The Public and Commercial Services Union confirmed that it was not planning
strike action to coincide with the self-assessment deadline but a spokesman
added that it was still concerned about staff cuts and tax office closures.
In September former BBC newsreader Moira Stuart became the new face of the
HMRC’s self-assessment advertising campaign.
Stuart, who took over from BBC presenter Adam Hart-Davis, is part of the
taxman’s campaign to encourage taxpayers to file their returns online and on
time.
