Tag Archive: HMRC

On the final day to file self-assessment taxes in the UK, the website of the agency handling the returns – Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue (HMRC)– went down. The timing, you might say, was not the best.   According to HMRC, the site went down for a while as many people attempted to file their returns electronically yesterday– the final day to file – Vnunet reports.   A statement on the HMRC site said,   "HMRC’s self assessment online filing serviceexperienced technical difficulties this morning which has meant that some tax payers have experienced difficulties filing online," said a spokesman for the service. The system is now rapidlyreturning to normal levels of service. A record 3.6 million taxpayers have already successfully filed online with 104,000 filing today.”   To accommodate those who had problems, thedeadline for both electronic and paper filings was extended until midnight tonight. Anyone filing after that faces a penalty.   It’s not the first time it’s happened. In 2005 HMRCwas forced to do the same thing, and there have been numerous complaints that the site contained no information about the problem.    

On the final day to file self-assessment taxes in the UK, the website of the agency handling the returns – Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue (HMRC)– went down. The timing, you might say, was not the best.   According to HMRC, the site went down for a while as many people attempted to file their returns electronically yesterday– the final day to file – Vnunet reports.   A statement on the HMRC site said,   "HMRC’s self assessment online filing serviceexperienced technical difficulties this morning which has meant that some tax payers have experienced difficulties filing online," said a spokesman for the service. The system is now rapidlyreturning to normal levels of service. A record 3.6 million taxpayers have already successfully filed online with 104,000 filing today.”   To accommodate those who had problems, thedeadline for both electronic and paper filings was extended until midnight tonight. Anyone filing after that faces a penalty.   It’s not the first time it’s happened. In 2005 HMRCwas forced to do the same thing, and there have been numerous complaints that the site contained no information about the problem.  

It’s proved to be a huge scandal in British government, with more revelations arriving daily. The loss of two CDs containing data on about 25 million people in the UK – almost half the population – has finally sparked the offer of a reward. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is offering £20,000 ($40,000) for the return of the two disks.   This comes after extensive searching by a team including 47 detectives and computer experts which has extended beyond offices and mail depots to landfill sites. HMRC has also appeal to staff to search at work.   The data was copied onto a pair of CDs and sent between offices as regular mail, without even being registered. The data was password-protected but not encrypted. According to the leader of the Liberal Democrats, one of the opposition parties in Parliament, the data could be worth $3 billion on the criminal market.   "The enquiry has been particularly challenging due to how common compact discs are within offices, the number and size of the offices requiring searches and the number of organizations where the package may have traveled through," the Metropolitan Police said in a statement, adding that there has been no evidence to indicate the CDs have ended up in criminal hands.   Just yesterday the acting head of HMRC admitted that there had been a further six security breaches in the last two years.