Have you filed your return by today's deadline? Next time the process will be different as HMRC rolls out new, digital services

Accountants, privacy experts, politicians and charities are voicing growing concerns about HMRC’s ambitions to “fully digitise” the tax return system. They claim that vulnerable groups will be penalised for not wanting to use the internet, that the quantity of data sought by HMRC will hugely increase administrative costs, and that the trend to push everything online will result in far more tax investigations without necessarily raising extra revenue.

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They also predict that – whatever it says to the contrary – HMRC’s ultimate intention is to obtain highly detailed data “equivalent to the individual entries on a bank statement”. This is likely to result in more frequent and earlier demands for payment. There are two prongs to HMRC’s push to “create the most digitally advanced tax system in the world”. One is the introduction of “personal tax accounts” for all individuals, aimed at the majority of people whose tax affairs are relatively simple and who don’t have accountants. Here, individuals’ online tax accounts will be updated automatically by HMRC with information it has obtained from other sources. You would log on, for instance, and see entries relating to your wages or pension, any taxable benefits you receive, such as the state pension, and any interest earned on your savings in bank or building society accounts......Read more here