More people choose to file tax on-line, MPs told

22 Jan 04
One million people are expected to complete and return their tax returns on-line this month, making life simpler for taxpayers and assessors, the chair of the Inland Revenue said this week.

23 January 2004

One million people are expected to complete and return their tax returns on-line this month, making life simpler for taxpayers and assessors, the chair of the Inland Revenue said this week.

Sir Nick Montagu told the Commons Public Accounts Committee on January 19 that the revenue would have no trouble meeting the government target to have all forms available on-line by 2005.

He added that, although it was difficult to predict take-up, a surprisingly large number of people had applied for tax credits on-line, suggesting that an increasing number of people were making use of new ways of interacting with the government.

Following on from a National Audit Office report published in October, the PAC is considering the design of forms and the ways in which government agencies interact with citizens.

Representatives of other agencies were less confident of meeting the on-line target. Paul Gray, managing director of the pensions and disability directorate at the Department for Work and Pensions, said only the application form for Carers' Allowance was available on-line. However, he assured the committee that the department was 'making every effort' to ensure the target was met.

Gray added that telephone services and e-claims significantly reduced the costs of administration and offered great scope for efficiency savings.

Bernard Herdan, chief executive of the Passport Service, said that although passport applications were available on-line, take-up was low, at only 2%.

He said that because photographs and supporting documentation had to be sent in separately, on-line applications were more expensive to process than paper ones. But Herdan told the MPs that once more streamlined procedures had been developed, the Passport Service would promote on-line applications.

In its October report, the NAO called for forms to be made shorter and easier to understand. The watchdog has noted that the length and complexity of many forms discourage people entitled to benefits and allowances from claiming them.

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