Almost all PAYE returns are filed online, report shows

Date: 14th November 2011

The majority of UK businesses are making use of HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) online filing service.

That is according to figures recently published by the National Audit Office (NAO), which revealed that 77 per cent of Income Tax Self-Assessment returns are now filed online.

Furthermore, 94 per cent of Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) in-year returns were filed electronically in 2010-11.

The data also showed that 67 per cent of VAT returns were submitted online.

However, less than half (42 per cent) of all Corporation Tax returns were filed online during the tax year.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: "HMRC's expansion of online filing has been a real achievement. The programme is largely complete, to time and budget, and more than 11 million customers are filing online.

"However, HMRC cannot demonstrate that the benefits are being maximised. Significant improvement is needed in its understanding of costs and benefits to inform future development."

Posted by Thomas Fletcher