Unable to submit online SA tax return - system error

We would like to understand more about what has happened here. Please could you contact anita.monteith@icaew.com to discuss this?

We have submitted many CT returns using the HMRC software and would have to say that, as a general rule, the system although quite cumbersome does what it says on the tin. It is however very frustrating when an unexpected error message appears. One's first thought is 'it must be me' so one tends to check all the entries again. Having wasted quite a lot of time with no success we then call the HMRC online helpline. I won't bore you with how long that process takes but it is incredibly annoying to then be told quite matter of factly 'yes, we know about that. Have a look at the website for service issues. We expect to fix that soon. Sorry, can't say when'. In our view it is not reasonable to expect practioners to constantly review the HMRC service issues page just in case a new problem has arisen. Is it unreasonable to ask HMRC to consider setting up a group email to relevant practioners that alerts them to new problems and subsequent fixes? It would save us (and them) a huge amount of wasted time.

Thanks for your post.

By trial and error, I have now solved the problem and submitted my return!

The issue was, I think, excessive text in the any information box in other tax reliefs and deductions – “please provide more information about your subscriptions for shares in enterprise investment schemes”.

When I had first started work on my return several months ago, I had prepared a very detailed set of information to enter into this box. When this was rejected, I suspect because it exceeded some (uncommunicated) threshold relating the maximum size of the data that could be input into the box, I reduced the size again and again until finally the system accepted it and let me move on to the next section.

Some months later when I was ready to submit and “check my return” showed there were no errors, I was not able to print or view the return (either colour PDF or black and white HTML). Nor was I able to submit the return. This was when I posted my blog.

I then deleted all the data in the “please provide more information” box, and instead put the data into a PDF file which I attached to the return. I was then able to submit the return online successfully - although I did get some rather odd messages saying that this was an amendment to a submitted return!

Clearly there is a bug here – data that passed the error test during preparation of the return subsequently gets rejected when you come to submit. It certainly doesn’t say that on the tin!