Online tax service criticised

DELAYS in filing tax returns on the Revenue Commissioners’ online service has cost business a minimum of €3 million, according to the Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

The ICPA disclosed that, in a survey of members, 98% of respondents experienced difficulties with the Revenue Commissioner’s online filing system ROS in recent weeks.

“The recent difficulties experienced in filing returns online were clearly a problem with Revenue systems. Rather than accepting this, Revenue attempted to blame telecommunication service providers and even practitioners for the difficulties that arose. The Revenue Commissioners made little effort to implement a constructive, short-term solution and their failure to grant a formal extension in the circumstances reflects a worrying attitude towards accountants and tax practitioners,” said president of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland Alan Farrelly.

A Revenue Commissioners spokesman said the ROS system was successful, but acknowledged there were some problems associated with people signing up late.

Problems highlighted by the ICPA survey included the inability to file returns at peak times, inadequate telephone support and the issuance of incorrect notices of assessment.

Mr Farrelly said ROS was not capable of dealing with the volume of returns and, according to the CPA survey, the average time lost due to dealing with the ROS difficulties, was 21 hours per firm,” he said.

“On this basis, the potential cost to Irish businesses was a minimum of €3m. The Revenue Commissioners made amendments to the ROS system on the filing deadline date but, unfortunately, it was too little to late.

“The Revenue Commissioners must issue guarantees that the processing capacity of ROS will match the anticipated usage levels before next year’s tax deadline,” he said.

The Revenue said they have begun consultations with professional bodies and practitioners with a view to improving them system.