Turnaround times for paper forms handled by HMRC's central agent authorisation team will be extended until 31 October, the department has warned.
The longer waiting period are as a result of the taxman having 'redeployed resources to higher priority work’.
The Revenue has urged agents to use online agent authorisation, which will not be affected.
However, agents should not use the online process to set up a client authorisation if they have already submitted a form 64-8 for the same client. Doing so will cause problems with HMRC systems and may delay the authorisation process further.
The department says it will continue to give priority to paper authorisations for self assessment.
The expected turnaround times are:
- Form 64-8 for self assessment: two weeks
- All other forms 64-8: six weeks
- Self assessment registrations: eight weeks
- Self-employment registrations: eight weeks