HMRC Site Goes Down — On Tax Day
By Christopher Nickson
January 01, 2008
Just when you don't need it, the site for filing UK taxes goes down — on the final filing day.
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 service experienced 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 rapidly returning 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, the deadline 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 HMRC was forced to do the same thing, and there have been numerous complaints that the site contained no information about the problem.