Tax deadline extended

Posted on 1 February 2008 by Charcol

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Taxpayers have been given an extra day to submit their self-assessment tax return, after the online submission service crashed yesterday.

In a statement, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said that it regretted any inconvenience caused, and that that it would treat returns submitted by midnight tonight (Friday 1 Feb) as having arrived on time.

The Self Assessment Online service was unavailable for several hours yesterday, causing disruption for tens of thousands of people and small businesses.

However, HMRC said that it had received more than 200,000 online returns over the course of the day, up around 50,000 on the total for last year's final 24 hours. It said that a record 3.7 million returns have been filed online for the last financial year.

Meanwhile, the 'public face' of self-assessment, science broadcaster Adam Hart-Davis, has called for tax rules to be simpler.

Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, Mr Hart-Davis said that VAT was "absurdly complicated" and, in light of yesterday's problems with the HMRC site, that he was "full of sympathy" for those struggling to file online.

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