16 May 2008
Revenue and Customs should make tax forms 'much simpler' to avoid tax underpayments of around £330m, an influential select committee has said.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee published its report, HM Revenue and Customs: helping individuals understand and complete their tax forms, on May 15.
It found that too many unintentional mistakes were made by people submitting returns to R&C, which led to underpayment and overpayment of tax.
PAC chair Edward Leigh said it was puzzling that a similar estimate to the £330m for underpayment had not been attempted for overpayment.
'HMRC should produce such an estimate as soon as possible and also publicise common errors leading to underpayments and overpayments,' he said.
Performance on answering phone enquiries had improved, with 72% of the 20 million calls a year answered within 20 seconds.
R&C plans to reduce the number of calls it receives by improving forms, guidance and its website, estimating a £100m saving if more people use online services.
PFmay2008
