HM Revenue & Customs has apologised after admitting that turnaround times for newly self-employed people to register will increase to eight weeks between now and October 31, 2010.
Explaining the move in an update, the Revenue said processing times for paper form 64-8 and registrations for self-assessment would also extend over the next two months.
The longer waiting times - up to eight weeks for self-assessment and self-employment registrations - are a result of tax officials being moved to "higher priority work," HMRC said.
Although internet authorisations will not be affected, it warned that further delays could be caused if tax agents submit form 64-8 online having already submitted it offline.
Completion times for such forms for self-assessment have risen to two weeks; to six weeks for all other 64-8 forms, and to eight weeks for self-employment/assessment registrations.
"Eight weeks for newly self employed registrations?" reflected a personal tax adviser. "Does HMRC want to put people off joining the tax system altogether?"
Sep 2, 2010
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