There will be occasions when the entry you make in function
CAPTURE RETURN or AMEND RETURN or for Trust returns in Technical
Support System (TSS), is not in accordance with that provided by
the taxpayer.
The majority of the entries you change will have been
identified as obvious errors or mistakes during capture of the
return information and you will have notified these
‘repairs’ as revisions to the taxpayer on the Tax
Calculation.
It is also possible that a mistake is made when keying in
the return details (a keying error), for example you may have
copied an amount incorrectly.
If a mistake was made during capture of the return
information, or a subsequent amendment, and a figure(s) keyed in
was not as provided by the taxpayer, for individual
taxpayers’ or partnerships you can use function AMEND RETURN
to correct that keying error(s). For trust returns you must use
TSS.
The correction does not affect the taxpayer’s self
assessment and is therefore
not a repair, nor does it affect the due and
payable dates of the taxpayer’s liability. You
do not record the date you correct the return on
the computer.
Note: There is no time limit for correcting keying
errors. However, there is effectively a time limit for using
information after which we must give up arrears of income tax or
capital gains tax arising from keying errors, unless you are sure
that the taxpayer could not reasonably have believed his tax
affairs were in order. (But, in correcting any error we would
simply be restoring the return on our records to its original
state, as completed by the taxpayer. In most cases it would be
difficult for the taxpayer to claim that it was reasonable for him
to believe his affairs were in order while the return remained in
an uncorrected state.) Full details are outlined in Extra Statutory
Concession A19.
Where a claim is made of HMRC delay in using information
(previously known as ‘Official Error’) see subject
‘HMRC Delay in Using Information’ (
SAM121450).
When the correction has been made to the return details in
function AMEND RETURN and you select Close and Exit from the File
menu heading, you will see the SAVE AMENDMENT screen.
At this point for individual taxpayer’s returns you
can select to
If the correction is on a partnership return you can select to
When saved and only corrections have been made in function AMEND RETURN a Tax Calculation will be issued to individual taxpayers after you have saved the changes if
The Tax Calculation issued to the taxpayer will include the
words ‘For reasons explained in my letter...’, it is
therefore necessary to advise the taxpayer by letter of the
corrections you have made and why.
If you receive an amended return from the taxpayer
and you find that keying errors were made when the
previous return details were captured or changed, care should be
taken when saving the return changes.
If the correction and the taxpayer amendment are both on the
same part of the return, for example the Tax Form, when prompted to
save as an amendment or correction, you
must select ‘Amendment’.
If the correction is on a different part of the return from
the amendment, for example the taxpayer has amended the Tax Form
and a correction is identified on a supplementary page, you must
select ‘Amendment’ for the Tax Form and
‘Correction’ for the supplementary page. This
effectively extends the time limit for enquiry, on the taxpayer
amended part of the return but does not extend the time limit for
enquiry on the corrected part of the return.
There may be occasions where you have calculated the
Individual’s, Trust’s or Pension Scheme’s
liability manually, and find that the figures used in the original
calculation are not in accordance with those provided by the
taxpayer or trustee.
In such a case you should calculate the revised liability,
enter the correct charge in function CREATE RETURN CHARGE and issue
a Tax Calculation to the taxpayer or Trustee, together with a
covering letter explaining the corrections made.
