“I never go online. The Internet is bonkers. You must not look at it.” Steven Moffat

So, the time has come and HMRC have finally succumbed to the digital age and is phasing in its new online tax accounts system. But with anything they do there will always be a sharp rise in scepticism.

Unfortunately this will mean the loss of hundreds of jobs and £1.3bn of taxpayers money ploughed in to the new system but it promises to reduce the burden for taxpayers and will allow businesses to view their tax accounts and make payments whenever they want to (as long as they meet the final deadline). It’s currently available to those within self-assessment – I can just about see a mist of nervousness as they come to use this system for the very first time. Teething problems anyone?

So, with two million small businesses already using the system the plan is by 2020 all taxpayers, individuals and corporate organisations will be using it. If I can give HMRC some good advice, “Don’t throw away the old system until you get this one right. And you only have four years to get it right”.

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