Last month I made an error in our on-line P11D returns. Some information was duplicated in two places. Normally the way the on-line Inland Revenue service works is that after an on-line submission of a form there is a period of time which elapses, after which you can make amendments.

Between the time that the forms are submitted and become amendable you cannot make any changes, nor can you print the forms that you are legally required to give to your employees. The deadline for P11Ds this year is 6 July 2005. Right.

Today I rang the helpdesk to point out that I could still not make on-line amendments. They suggested I ring my local tax office. Which means Glasgow. Which isn’t local, but never mind.

My tax offices’ P11D department told me to complete the forms manually, mark them ‘AMENDED P11D’ in red ink and post them. Officially told “not to worry about it”. Cool, except since I can’t yet print out the original forms I submitted. So it’s back to the working notes I made when I originally filled the forms in on-line. Then I discover that completing the forms manually is about three times as quick as doing them on-line.