strawberry floating travesty that is the HMRC self-assessment tax return website/system jesus christ
It asks for the same info repeatedly, involves knowing about 17 different 25 digit codes with slightly different names, uses the word 'optional' where it means 'mandatory', doesn't always allow you to save progress, and then takes 7 to 10 days to send you vital pieces of info if you forget something.
Ah, you mean the authorisation codes in the post? Yeah, it's fun when something strawberry floats up or you inevitably lose last year's one (I mean, it has been 365 days, yeah?) and you request that and it arrives after the day you are due to file and then fined £100 for it. I got that cancelled as I simply refused to accept it should take 10 days to send a code in the 21st century, but still.
That was stupid the first time, but then one year HMRC decided to randomly remove my entire self-assessment record for no reason, requiring me to re-register for the system again by phoning up them and remaining on hold, because I knew MYSELF that I was obliged to submit a self-assessment, or that they would demand one years later if I didn't.
The system fails to mention anywhere, no matter how many reminders you are sent (via text - if you don't get them, it's worth requesting them just for... encouragement) that the deadline is Jan 31, that it will take over a week for them to send you a strawberry floating code. IN THE POST. Why?? The post is NOT a secure method of delivering credentials, it never has been, and it never will be. If banks think it's OK to send a verification code via text or e-mail why is our government still mailing gooseberry fool dot-matrix printed onto a little piece of plastic taped to a piece of paper inside a manilla envelope which costs the taxpaper money just to let you log into a website designed in the 90s and actually file your taxes. Email has for years been used in court as a source of identity and personal communications; increasingly people have no fixed address so it shouldn't matter anymore. In fact depending on such fixed addresses just encourages tax dodgers to register their office address overseas and have accountants bend the rules however way in their favour because that gooseberry fool is below their pay grade.
I'm less worried these days because the council here demands my profit/loss accounts 6 MONTHS before the government wants them, I still have to do all the same gruelling work just forced to due it in the middle of summer, meaning they're already in order. I just have to separate out the trading names which is a ballache in itself. It shouldn't really matter under what name I sold some stuff or took revenue of some kind, it's all the same money as it's one legal entity (me).
Put all that gooseberry fool in a password manager, I have like 10 entries for different government systems all related to HMRC, Gov.uk (personal tax account), and corporation tax, and companies house, which are all different for some stupid reason.
You come to expect it eventually.
Of course, the rich part of it is by trying to be a good citizen, I have immaculate paperwork and state of the art cloud accounting for the past 6 years or so, costing me hundreds of pounds to maintain, yet I haven't been charged a single penny in tax. I suppose it's better than HMRC billing you random amounts of money, as has happened in the past, because their own record keeping is terrible and so they try their luck clawing back money that was never owed. They once managed to magic £5,000 of salary out of thin air, amounting to some bizarre, perfectly-rounded figure that I think they literally just typed in somewhere, just in case I owed any money for once. Proving that was not the case with HMRC's own strawberry floating documents was fun.
I don't know why it's taking so long for my accounting software to get with the times and offer automated self-assesment filings (FreeAgent does it) because the less I need to interact with that system the better.
Red wrote:strawberry floating travesty that is the HMRC self-assessment tax return website/system jesus christ
It asks for the same info repeatedly, involves knowing about 17 different 25 digit codes with slightly different names, uses the word 'optional' where it means 'mandatory', doesn't always allow you to save progress, and then takes 7 to 10 days to send you vital pieces of info if you forget something.
Mnnghhhhh
I've heard rumours that Devlin is behind the creation of said system.
Red wrote:strawberry floating travesty that is the HMRC self-assessment tax return website/system jesus christ
It asks for the same info repeatedly, involves knowing about 17 different 25 digit codes with slightly different names, uses the word 'optional' where it means 'mandatory', doesn't always allow you to save progress, and then takes 7 to 10 days to send you vital pieces of info if you forget something.
Mnnghhhhh
The help tips are brilliant as well.
Q: Are you the sole director or something or other [can't remember the exact wording] of a company?
Hint: If you the sole director or something or other of a company, click Yes. Otherwise, click No.
YOU'VE JUST EXPLAINED THE CONCEPT OF A YES/NO QUESTION YOU strawberry floating strawberry floats
Red wrote:strawberry floating travesty that is the HMRC self-assessment tax return website/system jesus christ
It asks for the same info repeatedly, involves knowing about 17 different 25 digit codes with slightly different names, uses the word 'optional' where it means 'mandatory', doesn't always allow you to save progress, and then takes 7 to 10 days to send you vital pieces of info if you forget something.
Mnnghhhhh
I've heard rumours that Devlin is behind the creation of said system.
I will neither confirm nor deny this.
The online system is a clusterfuck though. Luckily I'm not involved in personal tax at all, just Customs.
A bloke that's so ill hes been off all week has just turned up sounding like Darth Vader, coughing and spluttering because 'I thought it was important this meeting'. He then stood by my desk talking for about 10 minutes.