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Typical HMRC stupidity ...
... any clients with the savvy to use the dashboard will have an agent, and they will expect their agent to see the dashboard, and probably have no interest in seeing it themselves, which is why they pay an agent - doh!
Are HMRC for real?
There will be VERY few business owners who will use this dashboard. It will be the smallest (who have no need and can't afford an accountant) and the largest (who employ an in-house accountant) who will use this new system. The vast majority falling in the middle will be using accountants for the likes of corporation tax or self assessment, so that side of things is pointless. OK, maybe useful for VAT and PAYE, but how hard is it to log in separately for these rather than seeing them both on the same "dashboard"?
Where is the functionality for accountants? Bad enough that accountant's can't use the dashboard - I think it would be highly useful to be able to see my client's tax position at a glance. But why not more VAT and PAYE functionality for accountants anyway? As I understand it, the client's dashboard will show current account status for VAT and PAYE, but the accountant's login still won't show this information. Why not? The information must be there for it to be available for the client, so why not visible to the accountant? What have HMRC got to hide?
Perhaps that's the plan. They deliberately exclude accountants so that relatively few businesses will use it, so that minimises HMRC embarrassment if it doesn't work properly. Then when they eventually get it working properly, they'll roll it out properly to larger numbers of users. What a stupid plan. Accountants would quickly find the glitches and are in the best position to offer improvement suggestions. They'd have been better rolling it out as a trial to selected accountants or in selected areas only.
I may be paranoid but....
Perhaps that's the plan. They deliberately exclude accountants so that relatively few businesses will use it, so that minimises HMRC embarrassment if it doesn't work properly. Then when they eventually get it working properly, they'll roll it out properly to larger numbers of users. What a stupid plan. Accountants would quickly find the glitches and are in the best position to offer improvement suggestions. They'd have been better rolling it out as a trial to selected accountants or in selected areas only.
I don't think this is the plan - they'll make it work sooner or later, and I imagine their hide is pretty thick by now as they have a bit of experience of cruising through IT glitches.
If clients get used to using it for themselves, it may wean them off using agents, which will probably mean clients end up paying too much tax without realising it, and may never know that the modest fees from their accountant represented good value for money.
With iXBRL having the same potential for accounts filing and BIS telling everyone that accounts are just a bureaucratic waste of time, these are pretty tricky times for accountants.
Yet more exclusion of agents
Not only does the dashboard exclude agents but the new CT41G is not a form but a letter which requires companies to register with HMRC Online Services to deal with. Most clients do not understand when they have started to trade and certainly expect their agents to sort this sort of thing out for them. Apparently the company can send the information in a letter signed by an officer instead. What on earth was wrong with the original form CT41G? Answers on a postcard please....
I agree
There is a pressing need for for us agents to be able to see transactional information about VAT and PAYE. Interesting and not surprising that it is available (as it is for CT and SA) but bloody frustrating that they did not think to let us see it.
Remember, HMRC gets arsy if you ask for a list of PAYE payments (I have submitted a Data Protection Act request for more than one client - no reply after months to that!)
This stinks
Available to agents from autumn 2012
I attended an HMRC WT meeting yesterday. It seems that HMRC intend to have the dashboard rolled out to agents by autumn 2012, so watch this space.
Having a proper view of PAYE and VAT will be a big improvement - I dont know how many calls are made to those departments to confirm details what ought to be available.
Not really fussed about having it all on one screen or going by tax.
HOWEVER, the big question will be, will be actually be allowed to see it given the complete mess the agent authorisation for VAT is....