Revenue scrap ROS online Amend Tax Return facility

Revenue have withdrawn their ROS facility to amend an income tax return online.

Back in September 2010, Revenue added a useful feature to their ROS site which allowed a user to amend online a previously-filed Form 11 Income Tax return.  At the time, I heartily welcomed this move and hailed it as ‘an important innovation’. In the intervening 20 months or so, I used it on a number of occasions, most commonly as a particularly easy way of claiming a tax credit or allowance that had been omitted from an original tax return.  I found the facility to be both useful and straightforward to use.

This morning I was reviewing the tax records of a client who had reached 65 years of age in late 2010 but hadn’t previously notified either myself or Revenue of this fact. He was therefore entitled to an Age Credit for 2010, along with PRSI exemption and partial Income Levy exemption for that year.

I accessed ROS to amend his 2010 tax return accordingly but I could not find any links to access the ‘Amend Form 11′ facility. A quick google search yielded a blank apart from my own blog post of September 2010 which outlined the steps involved in amending a return on ROS and a link to the relevant Revenue eBrief which was issued around that time.  I was dismayed to find the eBrief link was dead, bringing me to a ‘Page not found’ page within the Revenue.ie site.

Increasingly puzzled, I tried the ROS help section of ROS.ie and its ROS FAQ – Form 11 page which told me:

“Can I avail of ROS to file an amended Form 11?     
Unfortunately at this time if you have previously filed a Form 11, on either paper or through ROS, you will not be presented with the option of filing an amended return.”

Finally admitting defeat, I then had to resort to writing a letter to Revenue asking them to (i) update and amend my client’s 2010 Form 11 accordingly; and (ii)  issue a new Income Tax assessment including the Age Credit and exemptions. My letter has just gone off in the post. I expect that it will reach Revenue in 1-2 days time and they will presumably deal with it in due course. No matter how efficiently they manually process it, the service cannot match the speed and efficiency of the automatic ROS service.

I am disappointed that Revenue have withdrawn the facility to amend returns online via ROS, and it seems to be a retrograde step for everyone concerned.

It is doubly disappointing that they didn’t alert accountants and taxpayers of the move, choosing instead to merely delete the eBrief that had previously explained the feature. Maybe I’m expecting too much, but a fresh eBrief announcing the change would at least have made ROS users aware that the feature no longer existed – saving both their own and their clients’ time. Hopefully Revenue will reintroduce the facility before too long.

P35 & RCT35 Online Filing Deadline Tomorrow

Tomorrow, 23 February, is the online filing deadline for 2011 Employer PAYE/PRSI P35 & Contractor RCT35 returns.

A P35 return includes details of all pay, PAYE/PRSI/USC deductions and other employee details for the year ended 31 December 2011.

An RCT35 return must be filed by all principal contractors in the construction, forestry, and meat processing sectors. It includes details of all payments made to subcontractors in 2011, and tax deduction details where relevant.

The original deadline of 15 February 2012 which applied to both returns is extended to 23 February for returns filed online via ROS.

In a recent eBrief, Revenue stress the importance of employers recording their employees’ PPS numbers correctly on P35 returns. Presumably the same guidance applies to subcontractor PPS and tax reg. numbers recorded on RCT35 returns.

The Revenue.ie website contains more guidance on completing P35 and RCT35 returns.

2011 Form CT1 Corporation Tax Return now online

Revenue have today unveiled the ROS Form CT1 Corporation Tax Return for 2011.

For the first time ever, this year’s CT1 return includes an an optional facility to pre-populate the tax return with data extracted from the company’s CT1 tax return for 2010. This useful feature is included in both the ROS on-line and ROS off-line applications.

Online CT1 filing is now compulsory for most companies from 1 June 2011. Revenue have now also published a downloadable pdf-format paper CT1 return to facilitate the remaining companies who are still permitted to file paper returns.

Thankfully Revenue have now ceased the wasteful practice of mass-producing paper CT1 returns, most of which ended up in recycling bins.

For more, see todays Revenue eBrief on the 2011 CT1 return, and the recent eBrief on mandatory e-filing.  Revenue have promised to publish soon a further eBrief on how to use the pre-population facility on the new CT1 tax returns.

15 November is ROS ‘Pay & File’ Tax Return Deadline

Revenue have confirmed that the 31 October 2011 Pay & File deadline for 2010 Income Tax returns is being extended for online returns to Tuesday 15 November 2011 . Curiously, this year’s deadline is a day earlier than last year’s deadline of 16 November 2010.

To avail of the extended deadline for 2011, an individual  (or their accountant) must file their 2010 tax return by 15 November 2011 using the online ROS system.  In addition, they must also use the Revenue online ROS system to pay the following tax balances by 15 November.

• Preliminary Tax for 2011;  and
• Any remaining Income Tax balance due for 2010

Unless both:

• the return is filed on ROS; and
• the required tax payment is made using ROS;

the existing deadline of 31 October 2011 will applies to both the payment and the return.

In accordance with existing practice, I expect that the extended 15 November deadline should also apply for the purposes of RAC, AVC and PRSA pension payments, where a taxpayer pays & files via ROS by 15 November.  This would enable such pension payments, made by 15 November 2011, to attract backdated tax relief against 2010 tax liabilities.  However, these arrangements will become not a reality until and unless confirmed by Revenue  in the meantime – certainly don’t take this for granted without double-checking between now and October.

Thankfully, the Revenue eBrief announcement makes no mention of the recent abortive plan by the outgoing FF/Green government to bring the annual Pay & File tax return deadlines a month forward. Some of us are still having nightmares over that particular bright idea.

16 Nov. ROS deadline applies to Pensions Relief

Chartered Accountants Ireland have confirmed today that the deadline for paying Pension Contributions that attract backdated tax relief for 2009 is extended from 31 October to 16 November. This applies where an individual has filed their 2009 Income Tax return by 16 November, and paid any 2009 tax balance via ROS by the same date.

In a statement issued  today, Chartered Accountants Ireland stated  “Following a request for confirmation from our members, we wish to advise all readers that where a taxpayer qualifies for the extended ROS Pay & File deadline of 16 November 2010, this extended deadline also applies to RAC, PRSA and AVC contributions.  Readers are reminded that in order to avail of this extended deadline, both the return and the payment must be made online.  Where only one of these actions is completed through ROS, the extension will not apply.”

As yet I don’t have a link for the statement but I will add this when it is online.

Income Tax returns can now be amended on ROS

The Revenue have just announced an important innovation for their ROS Tax Return system. For the first time, it is now possible to amend online a Form 11 Income Tax return that has previously been filed online on the ROS system.

Having tested the new facility today on ROS,  I have found it very simple and easy to use. I am convinced that it will be a very worthwhile and useful tool. It will save time, work and hassle for taxpayers, their accountants and indeed Revenue, in resolving minor glitches and omissions on filed tax returns.

To amend a return on ROS, just follow these steps:

1. Log on to ROS
2. In Client Services, click on the green ‘On-Line Return’ button
3. Under ‘Tax Type’ select Income Tax and under “Return Type’ select Form 11. Then click ‘Next’
4. You will then be taken through a series of screens, which are in the same format as the ROS online or offline modules for filing tax returns. You simply go to the relevant screen to make the amendment(s) to the previously submitted information.
5. Finally, you select the ‘Sign and Submit’ function at the end, apply your ROS digital signature and submit the revised Tax Return to Revenue.

A new Revenue eBrief on this topic lists some other key points to note.

• The Return Amendment facility is available only for Form 11 tax returns. It is not available for Form 1 or Form 1 (Firms) returns, nor (as yet) for other taxes.
• It is available only via the ROS on-line facility.
• It is available only for the tax year 2009 and subsequently.
• Tax returns may only be amended by the person (tax payer or their agent) who filed the original return.
• It is only possible to amend each return twice. Further changes are not allowed once two amended returns have been filed.
• Not all Form 11 fields can be amended.  All ‘forbidden’ fields that cannot be changed will be ‘greyed out’.
• If a return has been selected for Revenue audit, all fields will be ‘greyed out’ and no changes will be possible.
• Revenue also point out that it will still be possible to request changes to tax return data by letter, email etc.

This is a very promising new feature for the ROS system. Hopefully it will be a success and will be extended to all categories of tax return in the near future.