The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has published a report on steps that Revenue can take to help newly registered businesses meet their tax obligations. A summary of the conclusions is listed below, together with a link to the report.

• introduce a single registration system;
• increase the take up of online registration by advertising the benefits to businesses;
• introduce a unique identifier to make it easier for businesses to deal with Revenue;
• analyse the compliance record of different taxpayer groups and of the track record of individual businesses so Revenue can target its work and assess its effects;
• in targeting its efforts to increase compliance, Revenue should give due weight to the level of risk associated with new businesses;
• Revenue should remedy the situation where it cannot impose a penalty or interest for late monthly payments of PAYE/National Insurance contributions during the year;
• Revenue should make its guidance easier to understand by using plain English and improving the layout;
• Revenue needs to make it easier for new businesses to obtain the advice they need. It should:
  • explore alternative methods of providing workshops and seminars to increase take up, including online and outside normal working hours;
  • make its website easier to use; and
  • work closely with the organisations that new businesses consult for business advice to provide help through those channels;
• Revenue should work towards a one stop telephone system to cover all taxes;
• to improve take up of different scheme, Revenue should advertise more widely the financial benefits to businesses of using them. It should also assess the costs and benefits of introducing a single simplified VAT scheme.

A copy of the report, titled “Helping newly registered businesses meet their tax obligations” is available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmpubacc/489/489.pdf.