Tax Agents and Advisers
HMRC Agent Dashboard 16 May 2016
A question that comes up regularly from payroll agents is, are there plans to update the PAYE and liabilities viewer more frequently i.e.in real time?
A recent conversation on the CIPP Group on LinkedIn brought up this very question again where members were amongst other things sharing their frustrations regarding the issues of reconciliation.
When it was announced that agents would have access to the PAYE and liabilities viewer/Dashboard of their clients, one of the questions the CIPP Policy Team first asked was if there were plans to update the viewer more frequently i.e. in real time, as that was by far the biggest cause of angst that we were hearing from payroll agents on behalf of their clients. The answer was no; the question comes up regularly at the Agent Strategy Group on the off chance the answer will change - it hasn't so far.
We continue to lobby along with other stakeholders but we are not aware as yet whether the digital agenda will be able to resolve the long standing issues.
As for the timetable for larger tax agents i.e. 200 plus it is anticipated this will happen but we are not aware that a date for this has been published. The API strategy may offer a chink of light – but that is very much an aspiration for the future. There is a Talking Points Webinar scheduled for the 19 May to provide an update on agent services. As with all Talking Points webinars it will be delivered by a subject expert, and there is time allowed for questions and answers. Whilst this does little to ease the pain of frustrating wasted and ‘lost time’ attempting to reconcile sums that can’t be reconciled in real time, it will provide an opportunity to ask questions of the subject experts and register concerns and individual issues. Other resources include the Agent Account Managers which provides a possible route for assistance and resolution and the Tax Agent Blog also offers an opportunity to stay up to date and also to pass comment on any issues and experiences. Samantha Mann, Senior Policy Officer for the CIPP represents members at the Agent Strategy Group. The next meeting is taking place on 13 June so if anyone has any agenda items they would like raised, please email policy with the details.
Back to Contents
Agent Update - Self Assessment 4 January 2017
As part of HMRC’s work with tax agents, a special Self Assessment edition of Agent Update has been published.
The update outlines the extra help and support available to help agents, or their clients when completing their tax return.
The deadline for submitting the 2015 to 2016 Self-Assessment tax return is 31 January 2017 .
Six million tax returns still to be filed
According to the Guardian almost 6m of the 11m people in Britain required to fill in a tax return are yet to send it in, with a month remaining until the deadline. Around 870,000 taxpayers missed the 2016 deadline and were liable for a £100 fine, plus extra penalties in some cases. Meanwhile, research carried out by YouGov suggests that almost 2m taxpayers will spend the better part of a working day completing their self-assessment tax return. The study found that 45% of sole traders say it took five hours or more to file their tax return, with 22% saying it took more than 10 hours.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
Page 139 of 145
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker