HMRC U-Turns On Paper Only Self-Assessments

Just weeks after announcing downloadable self-assessment returns would no longer be available online, HMRC has backtracked its decision.

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Originally, the Government planned to take the option of physical self-assessment forms off the online portal, meaning taxpayers would have to call a dedicated line to request one.

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At the end of March 2023, HMRC contacted almost 135,000 people who file paper tax returns to tell them downloadable self-assessments would no longer be available. The move was an attempt to push more people to file their returns digitally.

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In reaction to the announcement, professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales argued against the change in a bid to reverse HMRCs decision.

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Following this feedback, the forms will remain available for download from the Government website. As well as self-assessment tax returns, HMRC will be moving the following forms to digital by default:

SA316 Notice to file

SA300 Statement of account

SA250 Welcome letter

SA251 Exit letterR002 Repayment notification

CT603 Postal notice to deliver a company tax return

P2 Employee coding notice

P800 Tax calculation.

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Recent reports from HMRC show that even though it had planned to require taxpayers to call for a paper return, its average phone waiting times increased to 10 minutes in February 2023, while over a third of calls were unanswered. In the same month, HMRC received 3,229,945 calls, up 20% compared with 2.68m calls in February 2022, despite the tax authority attempts to encourage people to use online services and webchat to resolve queries.

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Glenn Collins, head of technical and strategic engagement at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), said: It would be good to see a long-term action plan, but in the short term, the Government does have an urgent duty not to make a bad situation even worse.