IR no longer planning to send me tax returns

Are you sure they don't simply mean they propose to stop sending you the paper forms because they know you're going to put them in the bin and use the online thingy? Presumably you can do that even without being prompted.

No - they stopped sending me paper forms a couple of years ago. I infer from their letter I will no longer be asked to even fill in the online forms.

I've had one of these letter too. It puzzles me becuase every year I declare interest that I have to pay tax on. I'll still need to do that so I'll need to ask for a tax return I suppose.

Robert

You don't need to ask for one. You can just download it, print it out, and fill it in. Surely it must also be possible to fill one in online even if uninvited. Personally, I prefer the paper version, I tried the online one once, it was a disaster, and it will take wild horses to drag me before I have another go.

Absolutely. But the online mechanism has improved over the years. My recollection is that 3-4 years ago it was ropey, to say the least. My only complaint these days is the speed, but that's (I guess) largely due to my dial-up account!

But now I'm wondering if I can still use the online version to determine if I've overpaid tax, as I'm no longer going to be receiving a request to complete a return. I don't know whether the system will allow me to enter my details (and not submit the completed form) unless a return has been requested. Guess I'll just have to wait until this time next year...

Well, there's no point arguing about personal preferences, but what I was getting at, asking really, since because I shun the online version I don't know the answer, is whether it requires you to have been invited before letting you use it, or can you just, er, "turn up"?

Conversely, I wouldn't want to do it anyway other than online - it's just so easy. A friend of mine thought like you and filled in his paper form this year, a few weeks later he received a letter saying he owed 75,000 - which it turned out was down to a mistake he make. When you do it online, it calculates it all for you and shows any over or under payment, before you submit it. I think he would have noticed 75,000 at that point!!

Peter.

The IR CD-Rom for employers has deteriorated *disastrously* this year. The previous 2002 and 2003 ones were really quite useful and usable. This year's one is useLESS.

Firstly it makes silly noises at every action, why?

Secondly it assumes you have an 800x600 display (it might be 1024x768) and won't let you change the size of what it's displaying. Thus on my higher resolution display I get a postage stamp (well a bit bigger) of information in the middle, totally illegible.

Thirdly it takes over the whole screen and you can't run other applications at the same time. Thus you can't find out information you need to fill things in without shutting down the IR application first.

Whoever did the redesign should be sacked/shot/deported/etc.

Rant over, sorry to steal this thread.

I would assume you can turn some/all(?) the sounds off via Control Panel? My speakers are not connected, so I cannot confirm that.

I have no problems at 1280 x 1024 - I assume yours must be a lot greater?

Not need to shut it down. Alt-Tab can be used to toggle between 2 open programs (or choose among 2+).

Doug Ramage

"Mike Atkinson {see sig for reply address}" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@abingdon.oilfield.slb.com...

What you'll need to do is keep your p60 and bank statements then write to the inland revenue sending p60 and request an assessment, then they'll issue a refund for the overpayment of tax.

Er, maybe, but why should I have to turn off sounds (which I do occasionally find useful, though I have most turned off) while I'm using the application. Everything else allows one to turn them off within the application. Also the sounds are such silly ones and

Yes, I'm at 1600x1200, it makes the PDF stuff in particular quite unusable.

All very well if you've *already* started the other program but how do you start a new one to find something (I'm not a WIndows guru being more of a Unix person). Not to mention that the IR program covers up my tool bar which I use for navigating *everywhere*, why does it do that?

It's all so unnecessary, they seem to have gone out of their way to make it more difficult and uncomfortable to use than it would be by default.

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply, you may have made it ever so slightly possible to use.

BTW I mailed the IR with my complaints and I got the impression that I wasn't the first/only person to do so. Their final suggestion was to wait until next year's version.

I agree it needs some work to be done on it. :)

Windows Key +M should bring back the desktop. But for the IR's program it doesn't, although it should make your Taskbar visible again.

Doug Ramage

"Mike Atkinson {see sig for reply address}" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@abingdon.oilfield.slb.com...

Hey - I just got a letter too. Not too sure about this!

Peter.