Inland Revenue can't hack IT

Posted on 22 Aug 2000 at 18:00

The Inland Revenue has joined the growing list of government departments that have proved incapable of handling the challenges of the information age.

The Revenue suspended its online self-assessment service last week, after various glitches were discovered in its systems. One of the errors resulted in the tax figures of a small number of users being calculated incorrectly, although it is not clear which taxpayers have been affected. The Web site is now back up and running after a software upgrade, and a spokesperson for the Revenue claims that it is following "fairly normal procedure."

It has also emerged that prior to the upgrade Revenue employees had to print out forms that had been filed electronically and re-enter all the details manually. That process has now been automated, but the fact that the system incorporated such an element of repetition - with plenty of opportunities for transcription errors - is particularly alarming.

The Revenue was late in unveiling its online self-assessment service - it should have been available in April, but security concerns pushed the launch date back to June. In addition, the Revenue no longer offers its own software, the Electronic Version of the Return (EVR). Instead, it supplies a customised version of Microsoft's TaxSaver 2000 Lite, which isn't even available for download from the Revenue's Web site - the CD-ROM has to be ordered by phone.

To make matters worse, TaxSaver isn't capable of submitting online self-assessment forms - that requires a further piece of software, called iFile, which is available separately.

As part of the PM's drive to increase the number of government transactions performed online, the Revenue is offering the princely sum of £10 to taxpayers who file self-assessments electronically. Once you've navigated the Revenue's Web site, downloaded the filing software, ordered the CD-ROM and submitted your return (and all by September 30th, don't forget), you'll be lucky if you break even.

Author: Joel Harrison