Website crashes as tax returns flood in

Date: 1st February 2008

Government plans to computerise public services have come under further scrutiny after the special HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) website crashed under the volume of taxpayers' online returns.

The website was unavailable for about six hours on the last day before the deadline by which people had to file their self-assessment returns.

A source at the Treasury suggested it would be conducting a review of IT projects and spending to "ensure better value for money".

The Times cited research that revealed the cost of government IT projects since 2000 that had not reached maturity was in the region of £2 billion.

About 100,000 people were unable to file their returns on January 31st and became at risk of being fined and charged interest on the money they owe.

The Times suggested inadequate bandwidth and type of web server as potential weaknesses in HMRC's system.

HMRC extended the deadline for self-assessment returns until midnight on Friday, February 1st.

It also stated 3.7 million people had successfully filed their returns, a record number.