The surprise hit in this Christmas' annual toy war was the Doggie Doo: for those without children, a plastic sausage dog that delivers coils of plasticine from its tail end to the delight of girls and boys alike.
Defecating dachshunds were low on the wish-lists of our iXBRL customers this Christmas. For many this was the first time they would submit returns under iXBRL, and what they wanted was their December year-ends done and dusted in time to sing Auld Lang Syne. For the vast majority their wish came true, but for an unlucky few the lump of coal in their stocking came as a rejected HMRC submission. So what steps can be taken to ensure you do not find yourself on the HMRC's naughty list in future?
1) Submit as early as possible. It may be wearing thin but this remains the best advice for those submitting in iXBRL for the first time. The Arkk support team was kept busy over the festive period and the most common complaint was unavailability of support from submission-software providers and tax advisers. IXBRL is still new technology and unexpected issues do arise, so if you have a March year end and you see chocolate bunnies in the shops, it may be time to think about submitting.
2) Test submit. If you are unlikely to be ready to submit until the last minute, most submission software and tax agents can provide a test-submission service, essentially a dry run for your actual submission. This should identify any issues early on. Beware of testing accounts, comps or return documents in isolation as this will only tell you that one part of the submission is sound, not the whole envelope. It is also worth noting that 'validation' is not the same as test submission. Some submission packages provide false-negatives - 'errors' that will not cause your submissions to fail - which are often best ignored.
3) Register for online submission. If you fail to register for corporation tax online with HMRC, you cannot submit in iXBRL, and if you leave it until the last minute you will most likely miss your submission deadline. It can take about a week to receive your login details in the post so make sure you sign up in good time.
