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We had issues with no data being available and therefore making multiple requests for the same client in the hope that it would become available. We had to re-authorise several times and sometimes this resolved this issue.
For our whole practice only one pension P60 was available and that came through as an employment.
Student loan deductions did not pre-poplulate at all and this would be a useful addition as in general we used the service when the P60 had been misplaced by the client.
I found it really useful. The most useful enhancements would be splitting out non-state pensions into individual records, showing the state pension (really daft that it's not there when it's already in the online agent portal) and student loan deductions.
It's a bit of a pain not being able to access the information before being registered as the client's agent (clients who have just joined so we haven't got the code yet) but it's totally understandable why it should be like that.
The only other glitches were some old employer records being imported with zeroes, and a couple of pensions coming through as employment income which I doubt is HMRC's fault.
All in all, 8/10.
Timing of data is a big issue - surely if the employer were asked if P11Ds were due as part of final EPS (ooh like the old P35) Then all the employers with no P11ds could be done and available during April. Lack of Student loan figure is just daft as it's there on the record. It is hard to get this if a client has changed jobs as it's not on the P45 either and advise from HMRC is that payslips only need to be kept for a short time.
I didn't get any pension info at all - maybe that's down to my software? (Digita) I don't know. I didn't get P60 info for ministers of religion either. The NI info is useful too.
I don't like that it overwrites the employer name either. I think the whole name in Capitals looks bad and often I have abbreviated it rather than have a long name as the only entry on an overflow report. Small things I know but ...
Mike
I tried using this early on (perhaps too early) for one client only. HMRC provided no data for the client in question but the standing data (names of pension providers etc.) was completely deleted from the tax return and therefore had to be typed again when completing the return. This put me right off using the pre-pop facility which I have more or less ignored since then. I told staff not to use it. Easier and quicker to simply get the details from the client, surely?
What I think would be very useful would be a facility to download all relevant information which HMRC can supply as a document (with no entries being made directly on the new tax return). The document could then be compared with the information received from the client, and it would also be helpful in completing the picture where for example the client has mislaid a P60 or other document - P11Ds are often not available in my experience for example.
I use PTP software if that makes any difference? No idea how other software companies deal with this.
I found the pre-pop API very useful and was using it for all clients from when it was switched on (July 2017 in PTP) until 31st January. It was very handy for clients who couldn't find their P60. I would like the following enhancements:
1. The employment/benefits section only returns data after HMRC had reconciled the PAYE. Why? Even as late as 31/01/18 there were clients returning no data because HMRC had not done the reconciliation. Employers have to file by 05/04/17 so I feel the data should be available from 06/04/17 whether HMRC-reconciled or not.
2. HMRC returns a single gross and single tax for all pensions but the taxpayer is required to list each pension individually. The API should return the individual pensions.
3. We had a few cases of pensions being returned as employment and generating an employment schedule. This is the fault of the pension company not HMRC. HMRC needs to educate the pension company.
4. The scope of the API needs enlarging to include Student Loans, CIS, bank interest, state pension (it already includes other taxable state benefits).
5. Flagging if data on HMRC's SA record is different to the tax return eg postal address, date of birth, NINO etc.