Accountants' associations, tax practitioners and the Small Firms' Association have strongly criticised the Finance Bill proposal to bring forward the filing date for returns from self-employed taxpayers.
The Bill proposes that the date for filing tax returns be brought forward by two months from January 31st to the previous November 30th. But the deadline for payment of the tax due will be extended by a month.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants warned last night that the proposal could "result in chaos in the administration of the tax system and have the effect of delaying the collection of tax".
Under the current rules, self-employed taxpayers must pay preliminary tax for the tax year 1999/2000 by November 1st, 1999. They must file income tax returns for the 1998/ 1999 tax year by January 31st, 2000.
Under the changes proposed in the Finance Bill, the payment deadline for preliminary tax would be put back from November 1st to November 30th. But the annual income tax return for 1998/99 would have to be filed by November 30th, 1999, instead of January 31st, 2000. The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said the harmonisation of the deadlines by which tax is paid and tax returns are filed would simplify and streamline an over-complicated system which has three separate deadlines.
The president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, Mr Tom Griffin, said the work of completing accounts and preparing returns was traditionally carried out in the September to January period. The change would cut the time available to do this work by 40 per cent, he said. An ICAI survey showed that 87 per cent of its members were opposed to the change, he said, adding that the current practice had worked well over the years. "The change proposed is simply unworkable and is likely to lead to hastily-prepared returns which may be less reliable and would inevitably lead to more and more correspondence with the Revenue." The Institute of Certified Public Accountants described the proposal as "unworkable and unhelpful for business". It would put undue pressure on taxpayers, they warned.
