In his last Budget, George Osborne announced that pilot schemes will begin next year for digital tax returns, with the aim of eliminating the conventional forms by 2020.
By then, taxpayers will have digital tax accounts which they will be able to view at any time and make tax payments when they like.
Tax experts said the timescale was very optimistic, and that most people with complex affairs would in any case still have to file a normal return – they expected digital accounts to work only for people with relatively simple circumstances. A form like this can never die…