IT hitch hands Inland Revenue £15m in overpaid tax

NEWS The Inland Revenue is sitting on £15m in overpaid taxes after a flaw in a new computer system lost taxpayers' data. The problem, highlighted today in a report from the National Audit Office, stems from 1997, when the Inland Revenue switched National Insurance files to a new computer system. The records of 1.4 million taxpayers were left incomplete after the computer change over, and £15.1m in overpaid tax for the 1997/98 working year still remains uncollected. In June 2001 the Inland Revenue sent letters to the 1.4 million affected taxpayers, estimating that 13 to 15 per cent would be entitled to a refund, but just 161,000 taxpayers have so far responded. A spokesman for the Inland Revenue said that 1997 tax files have now been closed, but files would be reopened for investigation if taxpayers contacted their local tax office.