5 March 2009
- 1.745m returns filed with HMRC through IRIS
software by January deadline
- IRIS customers filed almost as many returns as
all other software vendors’ customers put together
IRIS Today announced that figures released by HMRC show
that returns filed online using IRIS tax software amounted to an
incredible 1.745m in the run up to the 31 January 2009
deadline.
Rising to the challenge of Lord Carter, for a connected online
Government, by 2012, UK Accountants and Citizens filed a total of
5,759,006 returns online according to HMRC. IRIS’ share, which
includes IRIS, PTP and Drummohr, stands at just over 46% of all
returns submitted using third party software. 1.745m returns were
filed using IRIS software, as opposed to 1.98m with all other
software combined. Some 1.68m were filed online directly with
HMRC.
IRIS customers have always been at the forefront of
electronic filing. Paul Aplin, Chairman of the ICAEW Tax Faculty
and a partner at the west country firm, A. C. Mole made history
using IRIS to officially file the first electronic tax return in
1997 using the pre-cursor to eFiling, the electronic lodgement
system. This was reported widely in the national and accountancy
press at the time and was included in the highlights of 1997 by the
Financial Times. Following on from this, A. C. Mole was approached
by HMRC and asked to file the first tax return via the Internet in
December 2001.
Paul Aplin commented “eFiling was once a
minority interest, but the tax compliance landscape has now changed
fundamentally with over two thirds of this year’s self assessment
returns being filed electronically. IRIS gave us the edge to file
the UK’s first electronic return back in 1997 and more than 10
years on we are still using IRIS. This January - as we have
for the past decade - we again relied on IRIS to enable us to file
our returns electronically.”
As well as leading the way in Self Assessment returns, IRIS
customers also achieved impressive results in Partnership Returns
with a 47% share of returns filed, and Corporation Tax returns with
44% share of returns filed - greater than all other providers
put together, when returns filed directly with HMRC are taken into
account.
While many accountants have been slower to convert to the fast
and secure method of online filing, practices using IRIS software
have wholeheartedly embraced the use of technology to maximise
efficiency, due to the common ease of use across the entire IRIS
product range, be it Drummohr, PTP or IRIS.
“We are delighted to have helped our customers and HMRC achieve
impressive results in the shift to eFiling ahead of the January
2009 filing deadline” said Phill Robinson, Managing Director, IRIS
Accountancy Practice Solutions, “UK accountancy practices have
increased time saved and improved accuracy, using our
solutions for business, personal and trust tax due to the total
integration with the entire range of IRIS Practice
Software modules and with the systems of HMRC.”
With over 14,000 accountancy practices of
all sizes and with over 60% of the top
50 firms as clients, IRIS is the number 1 provider of software and
services to UK accountancy firms. IRIS’ objective is to provide the
tools and services to empower accountancy professionals, optimise
operational efficiency and enable the best chance of competitive
advantage.
www.ptpsoftware.co.uk
www.drummohr.com