I have just phoned HMRC to get a recent copy of The self Assesment tax returns guide and have been informed that its been discontinued now and everything is online and they will not be publishing again..
Does anyone know if this is correct or have I been fobbed off??
Last year I found a lot of the detail that used to be in the manual was on the website. I was constantly looking things up on the website which the manual mentioned, but did not have the information any more. So I am not surprised, they are no longer producing it.
In the past I did find it useful for - one year due to the poor wording, a certain tax benefit to client could be utilised and in the following year it was changed to stop it! This effected one of my clients, as I had followed the wording. The following year HMRC picked up on it (and on everyone else who had done the same!), and tried to charge penalties and interest to my client. I was able to produce a copy from the manual which showed the poor wording and then the copy with the changed wording and the penalties & interest was removed.
The guide was just various booklets gathered together in the one place. Every part of it was available online and available to order a paper copy of. It was handy having it all in the one book. I just hope they don't get to the stage when they completely do away with these paper versions of the smaller booklets that made up the guide in favour of online versions. You just can't beat a booklet with post-it notes sticking out the side.
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
my thoughts exactly... I like having books to refer to, I find its easier.... I phoned them a while ago to order the VAT manual only to be told they no longer do that one either!
At this rate it looks like there will be more job losses in Cornwall, as the HMRC office that distributes publications is in St Austell.
All they will need is an automated message saying "Hard copies of publications are no longer available. All forms and publications can now be obtained online"
-- Edited by Wella on Saturday 9th of April 2011 09:09:28 AM
Sorry James, but I never understood why anyone purchased printed tax books. Thats why I didn't mind the HMRC manual, it was free.
All printed tax books are out of date within a year - and too many I have taken a look at are out of date anyway.
Why pay for it when you can get it free from HMRC - just print it yourself if you need a hard copy.
One of the advantages of being a IAB member is I have FREE access to the CCH online tax information library. If you are also a IAB member you can access it free too.
-- Edited by YLB-HO on Tuesday 12th of April 2011 02:19:22 PM
Personally I prefer books. I hate trawling through the internet looking for stuff. Can anyone recommend a good book about VAT for small businesses? Would be grateful for any suggestions.
Why pay for it when you can get it free from HMRC - just print it yourself if you need a hard copy.
Therein lies the answer to your question. To save the hassle of having to search the inetrnet and then print out a copy which may be anything from four or five to forty or fifty pages. I would be quite happy to pay for the Self Assessment manual.
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
I think the others have answered your question, however, as mentioned in my post the ICB only did it because HMRC said they were no longer printing their own.
ICB used to use CCH but feedback received showed that people prefered printed books or telephone help. Therefore the ICB launched its telephone helplines and originally pointed people to the HMRC book (and others), but when that stopped they started printing their own.
Personally I don't print anything out - I am trying to go 100% paperfree. Not only to save the planet, but because I just don't have the space anymore to keep anything in hard copy. Anything I need to read later I save in my personal folder in my drop box, which I can access later if I want.
I cannot wait until all the old books and manuals are out of date so I can send them to the landfill, or turn them into paper bricks to burn on a fire and I can get more space back in my office.
I have a RSS feed for the HMRC manuals on my internet browser, so I know when the existing HMRC manuals are updated, rather than rely on out of date books. Every so often I see something useful and save it in my CPD folder for the particular year. I make a note on my CPD record so if I need to find it again, I just take a quick look through my CPD record to find the year it is was saved - and I can then find it straight away if I need to talk a look at it again.
I suppose its all about being organised and have good and simple systems in place to make life easier.
