In a significant development in our campaign not to have the income tax filing dates advanced by four months, the official recommendation to move the dates has been changed.

The proposal to advance the filing dates for Income Tax Self Assessment cases by four months, from 31 January back to 30 September, had its origins in a review by Lord Carter of the HMRC Electronic Filing arrangements. This recommendation had been accepted by Government. ICAI, in conjunction with ICAEW, ICAS and other representative associations, have been taking a cooperative approach in campaigning against the decision.

Lord Carter announced on 9 June that he would look again at his recommendations for changing the self assessment filing deadlines. Along with the other representative associations, we provided him with further information and points as raised by our members over the course of a number of meetings during June. Members can be assured that all of the points raised with us, involving staffing issues, the difficulties associated with obtaining and processing information, and matters which hamper the commercially successful use of electronic filing, were brought directly to the attention of Government.

On 10 July, Lord Carter announced that having considered the further representations he made, he would revise his recommendation to Government. He is now recommending that the deadline for Income Tax returns filed electronically should NOT change, i.e. remaining at 31 January. The deadline for returns filed by traditional methods will move from 31 January to 31 October, rather than 30 September as originally proposed. This revised recommendation has been formally accepted by Government.

A key element of the Carter recommendations is that there should be an ongoing consultative process between HMRC and practitioner representatives to ensure that the e-filing systems are robust and appropriate to accountants’ needs. ICAI will be actively involved in this process.