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Online Filing
Why oh why all the griping about online filing? I did it a couple of days ago and it was superb. I am only a small business but in answer to Ian Wheelan's question:
"The Inland Revenue invested heavily in the slogan "It’s Quicker, Faster, Cheaper and more efficient Electronically". Well is it?"
I say yes.
If you don't like it don't file online; do it by paper and wait until the revenue has sorted out any problems you perceive there are. If you consider the complexity of the system that the revenue is trying to implement I think it is superb.
Right so they are not perfect but nor am I!
Just to take one of Mr Wheelan's points:
"For example the inclusion of an "unacceptable" National Insurance Number – AC123456D - in a submission of 12,000 Forms P14 via EDI would cause the entire submission to be rejected at the EDI gateway."
This is not the fault of the Gateway but of the software the person was using to process his/her payroll allowing him/her to complete/save an employee record using an incorrect NI number.
I was more annoyed with Sage in that having purchased Sage payroll last year I had to buy the complete new version to enable me to submit online.
Come on guys lighten up and look at the positive aspects of doing things online.
Michael
Still not sure...
Like Eileen I received a huge pile of reminders, and like everyone else the IR Portal still shows that last year's (i.e. 2004/05) P35 has not been filed electronically.
I have the receipts for successful lodgement, including for one that shouldn't have been successful, but do I now phone the IR to check that the P35 was actually received???
When is the web site to be updated? 20th May?? That way we'll know what penalty notices to expect, but not be able to do anything about it.
Still more problems
Looking at my on-line list of PAYE clients, they are all flagged as not having submitted a P35 for 2004/05, despite having lodged 90% of them over a fortnight ago.
There is no indication of when this is going to be corrected, leaving me uncertain that my successful filing summary is worth anything.
Congratuations!
My congratulations to Ian Wheelan on an extremely informative piece. This is the first time that I have seen all this information in one place and at least we now know what to expect. I have to say that the elctronic submission of PAYE returns has been much quicker than I imagined, provided that you can actually get through the gateway (!), but I dread the first electronic filing of tax returns.
IR Portal Not Updating
I had the same dilemma as Angus so I telephoned the online helpdesk yesterday. They confirmed that my employers' returns had been received but told me that the IR Portal would not update the submissions until late May. This may tie in with ERIC story.
However as these were my first submissions since my TAS payroll software had been updated I wanted to know whether the data was going through "live" and not as "test" since I had sent test data earlier and got the same email acknowledgement that all was well. I never trust software until its proven and the IR portal would have been just the ticket to check that's the "live" returns were received. Shame good ideas don't work.
The helpdesk did check my data and confirmed it was "live" and rang me back the same day to confirm this. The online help desk staff always seem to be helpful whenever I have occasion to phone them but I get the impression they have one hand tied behind their back. That's one hand better than us.
what next!
Today I received 13 Reminders from the Revenue that my client's P35's had not been submitted. All were submitted on the internet before the date of the Reminder. The other 15 client Reminders must have gone direct to the client so I can look forward to their telephone calls asking me why the returns have not gone in. What next! It would have certainly saved time to post all the paperwork this year. Last year we submitted vis internet and after a couple of problems the rest worked fine. The gremlins are certainly out to increase the accountant's stress levels this year.
Using the revenue's own software
I decided to complete a P35/P14 submission using the revenue's own software. THe client only has one employee so it should have been easy - shouldn't it?
It was slow, convoluted but eventually successful (I think). However, I wanted to print the P35 for my records. I was taken to a security screen and asked to log in again. I did. I then had to go through all the hoops of accessing my client(I haven't yet got them on my authorised list so used the 'without FBI2' option). Finally back to the 'print P35' screen. I was taken to a security screen and asked to log in again, and again......