Businesses not prepared for iXBRL

Experts warn that too many businesses are unaware or unprepared for a new tax return regime.

From April 1 2011, HMRC will only accept online lodgement of company tax returns, statutory accounts and corporation tax computations in a special format known as inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL)

Andrew Milnes, partner at north west accountancy firm HURST, said:

“Converting your company accounts into iXBRL is going to be a great administrative burden for businesses. It will be time consuming and costly for those investing in software themselves rather than outsourcing the tagging.

“Although companies have 12 months from their year end to make the necessary submissions, all year ends after 31^st March 2010 are required to submit using iXBRL if filed after 1^st April 2011. This means that businesses which have an April year-end for this tax should be panicking now, as they will only have one month to generate the necessary iXBRL files.

“Worryingly there are still many finance directors who don’t have measures in place for meeting HMRC’s new requirements. These aren’t optional changes, businesses need to act fast.

He advised:

“Finance directors need to ensure they can prove they have taken reasonable steps to avoid errors otherwise submitting their corporation tax incorrectly will result in unnecessary enquiries into iXBRL submissions, and worse, wider ranging enquiries into the company’s affairs.”

On Thursday 5 May, HURST is holding a breakfast seminar aimed at finance directors to explore the new HMRC reporting requirements. The seminar will cover areas such as an introduction to the new language, understanding the compulsory changes in company reporting and what your obligations are.

Those wishing to book a place can call Jo Flynn on 0161 477 2474.