HMRC's online filing software should continue to be available free of charge to all unrepresented individual taxpayers and small businesses.
That is the overwhelming opinion of the professional bodies that make up the Working Together E-Group, which has welcomed the Revenue's current review of its online tax return filing system — the future of which was the subject of a members' poll by the group.
Almost 500 practitioners, who between them deal with an estimated 250,000 tax returns, completed the survey.
Those who responded predominantly pay for their own software, but 82% said HMRC should continue to supply free software to unrepresented taxpayers.
And 87% of respondents thought employers with fewer than ten employees should continue to receive software free of charge, to help minimise administrative burdens and enable them to continue to act as agents for HMRC in operating PAYE and NICs.
This, remarked the E-Group's Paul Aplin, chairman of the ICAEW's Tax Faculty, is vital 'if HMRC want to encourage individuals to file online rather than by paper'.
Only 15% of poll respondent believed the Revenue's online filing system has improved since last year.
This is a marked deterioration since the poll 12 months ago, when a majority of Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) members surveyed reported an improvement, commented Tina Riches, the CIOT's technical director (cross-cutting).
The institute went on to claim the survey results 'indicate that HMRC need to think very carefully before any strategic changes, and also need to carry out extensive testing before requiring changes to their own and commercial e-filing system software'.
