HMRC have announced that from April 2012 all VAT returns will have to be submitted ‘on line’, rather than the traditional paper copy.
Most taxpayers (those with turnover over £100,000 pa) are already submitting online. This is now to be extended to all VAT registertered businesses.
Whilst there are undoubted cost savings in ‘online’ reporting as far as HMRC are concerned, it does make the collection of taxes very susceptible to ‘cyber attack’. HMRC do not have a good record in implementing new systems. Such is progress….