The Tax Return re-design has caused delays with software houses issuing final versions for 2008. Has anyone received their 2008 Tax Return software yet? If so, have you been able to efile? If you haven't received the software yet, has your software supplier told you when you should expect it? I'm interested to know which suppliers are performing and which are not.
Kevin Ringer
Replies (40)
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CCH Taxpoint
Dear Kevin,
It arrived for the beginning of the third week in May. No short self-employment pages support (please reconsider CCH!!), no partnership on-line filing yet, problems with partnership turnover below £30,000.
Not up to the usual standard I'm afraid.
Glad to see interface hasn't changed much and I can accept that the Revenue take some responsibility!
Fasttax was fast
First version was out on 12 April with a new one on 29 April. I filed some easy returns online straight away. Unfortunately one or two bugs persist (one in the Lloyds pages) but they are aware and are fixing them.
The Revenue have been poor in releasing the new return to the software providers and no doubt they are all struggling to make sure they have no bugs and we'll all have to be a bit patient with them this year.
2008 tax software
We bought (and paid for!) the SQL network version of Keytimes tax 2008.
We are still waiting!!
Drummohr
7 april downloaded Personal Tax module, now have partnership and repayments too. All working with usual Drummohr smooth efficiency.
Keytime
Downloaded the latest update for Keytime and it fixed the payments on account issue you mention.
Keytime Payments on a/c
I would strongly advise that you double check the payments on account both on the computation and the hard copy print as I think you may find that they are incorrect.......
Digita
We got our Digita prog on 7 April - we registered ages ago to be one of the early release recipients, so that may be why we got ours so early.
It's superb!
Keytime
I got my update on time (week of 7/4/08, but I could have donwloaded it a few days earlier) and have filed a few returns succesfully - I am sure there will be a few niggles, but they usually sort them out pretty promptly.
Forbes
I have been able to download Forbes since the beginning of the tax year, and have filed several returns online without any problems.
sorry to hear about the keytime issues
Ditched the buggers after one month in 2005 and never looked back.
I really had assumed they would have sorted themselves out by now.
If you are looking to switch speak to the other software providers about imports from rivals - data can certainly be imported between packages
Although if you do try handing it back for a refund you might well be disappointed, I returned my 2005 software as not fit for purposes (and lacking several advertised features) they refused point blank to refund the money which has always struck me as an incredibly naive thing to do.
Keytime has serious problems
Keytime Software has basic problems which make it almost unuseable and have given no reasonable timescale for fixes.
The main problems are nothing to do with waiting for HMRC, they are basic flaws, eg with payments on account and accounts import, that could and should have been tested prior to releasing the software.
Most annoying thing about Keytime is that they issue Newsletters full of compliments and self praise without any mention of their own incompetence and user problems. If it was easy to change supplier then we wouldn't hesitate because this is the third or fourth year running that they have let us down without any apology or admission of their failings.
Digita - not yet!
I haven't received anything from Digita as yet - but I have been told it should be here by the end of the week.
Digita?
I think that the person who got his digita software was very lucky, i have been bugging them for the past 10 days and its alway "being shipped". As a very small practice it is proving detrimental to my cashflow, I have half a dozen returns to do but no program.........and this is after really nagging at clients about not being late!
2007/08 Software
I use Drummohr, dowmloaded personal S/A and Partnership returns, last week, and have already submitted first personal S/A return successfully,
As usual, they are fantastic. Wouldn't touch Sage with a ten foot pole !!
Keytime
I received my Keytime updates last Friday. It strikes me that they rushed it out without proper beta testing as its got serious faults. Phone calls to Keytime say they know about the problems and updates will be released within the week. Still waiting but not holding my breath.
Legatio F Tax
This small but surprisingly good software is up and running for 2008 although I have yet to file online and there has been one revision so far.
Digita Personal Tax
Surprised no one has mentioned Digita yet. Has always been delivered on 6 or 7 April. This year (2008) was received on 7 April. First return filed electronically on 11 April.
No place for client to sign on HMRC free software
Topic originally raised as "2008 Online Return" on 18 April.
I'm happy for those who those using commercial software and are filing with no problems. The HMRC's own free software is producing a tax return with no provision for the client to sign their approval for the agent to file on line. I got this reply to my above original post.
Quote
"Mr Phillips, 19 April 2008 @ 11:29 AM
There may be client approval form
Yes I noticed the same thing.
I phoned the online helpdesk and was told that there is an answer to this in FAQ's. It provides a client approval form which you can staple on to the client's copy and he can then approve.
The helpdesk person told me that the form was very difficult to find and that she would have to email me a link to it.
She emailed this link, which takes you to an "Overview...and Declaration" which seems to contain a proforma client approval paragraph for us to cut and paste.
I'm still getting to grips with it. Any other views/info greatfully received" end quote.
Even if this worked it would be a shambles to operate but HMRC admit there is a problem with it and they don't know when they will get if fixed because, surprise surprise they do have an awful lot of other problems with the software. We should get it across that we don't want it fixed but to go back the the previous year's method of incorporating the clients approval docket in the return as it prints out. Money Box Live are you listening ? It's HMRC reference 8427347 with the Electronic Help Desk. Whoever came up with this year's concept should be put on unpaid leave and everything they've ever touched checked for sanity.
Ken Flagg
Acorah - TaxCalc for Trusts
I downloaded this last week and I've input data but not yet filed any returns.
PTP
Haven't received mine yet, but I notice the prices have gone up. Is the Iris-effect kicking in?
Have to disagree in part with Mark Gauden
regarding the Sage CT package. My only real gripe with Sage CT is its insistance on integration with the Tracker database software. Otherwise, I am greatly impressed with Sage CT, despite being a harsh critic of all the other Sage tax products. Our staff generally approach the CT product with great trepidation, and it certainly takes some getting used to. But once they are familiar they invariably are converted to supporters. Perhaps the clue is that it isn't actually written by Sage.
I blow hot and cold over their Practice Solution software. I think it has promise and Time and Fees was hardly a fantastic product. There are definitely some serious issues with SPS, but it looks to me as though they are more corrrectable, since they wrote it from the bottom up using modern techniques, without inheriting a load of spaghetti code from the likes of CSM.
Anyway, we have our 2007-08 upgrade software, but have yet to instal it. We keep getting calls from them to warn us that it is going to be a big, time consuming upgrade. I have horrific memories of the last time we had that warning.
Even worse
Rebecca -April 6th was a Sunday!
Received Sage Personal Tax via disk 15th and so far no problems.
So it was you...
I heard today that HMRC's system upgrade was completed at 5.58am on 6 April with a deadline of 6.00 am, and within minutes someone had logged on and filed. Quite a few filed on 6 April....and it was a Saturday! Wish my clients cared that much....
Hi Mark
I think you're being picked on there, Mark. We downloaded Sage Personal Tax v11.0 on April 11th and have now done 4 or 5 Returns. The disk for it came on about 16th April.
Running fine - although horrible. But I put that down to the Revenue whose form is spectacularly pointless and ugly.
PTP
I understand from PTP that it is being despatched this week.
From memory, I think it's always a week or 2 after 5 April - no great shakes.
I'm not too concerned as I've been up to my armpits with P35s.
Keytime
I have received my software from Keytime but there are lots of problems with it. I was promised an update would be issued on Friday but surprise surprise no update yet!!!
I have found that Keytime make lots of promises are very rarely stick to them!!!
Carol
Still waiting for SAGE
SAGE personal tax 2007/08 not yet delivered or installed.
Meanwhile struggling with a another nightmare SAGE product - SPS (Sage Practice Solutions) allegedly an "improvement" over Sage Time & Fees but in practice grossly over complicated and "trial and error and get nowhere" is the order of the day at present.
SAGE Corporation Tax also is a non-runner as overly complex and classically SAGE being non-user friendly (Fastax do a .pdf based CT600 that's far more user friendly than SAGE's CT offering but has less functionality).
Drummohr OK
We got our Drummohr SA software right at the start of April and have been efiling regularly since then, tax repayments coming through quickly. No problems here with Drummohr, but then again, they've never let us down yet.
Drummohr Tax assistant
As usual Drummohr have got theirs updated.
I have already submitted online.