OpinionApr 17 2013

Providers making less effort to help with tax year deadlines

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I have tried to organise things to avoid the end of year tax rush by doing as much as we can at the beginning of the tax year instead. I am not sure what went wrong this time around but there were a few heated moments as we tried to navigate the various deadlines and rules imposed by various providers.

I recall there used to be a real hunger among providers to attract as much ‘last-minute’ business as possible, but in recent years this desire appears to have waned. Offices would remain open until midnight, satellite collection points would spring up, and some firms would even operate courier collection points for firms in far-flung places.

These days it is only the likes of Fidelity that remotely make an effort to cater for last-minute money. And the further north you go, the less accommodating it appears to become.

Scottish Widows told me there was no facility for me to drop off a cheque in London. It needed to physically arrive at its Edinburgh office by midday on 5 April. Not the close of play mind you, and not even 1pm which would allow the use of the Post Office guaranteed next day 1pm delivery service (a service that is a fraction of the cost of the before 9am service).

Things were slightly better at Scottish Life, but then we were posting to Cheshire, despite the name. Coming further south bought us several more hours it seems and provided everything arrived by 5pm it would be all right.

To give some credit where it is due, Scottish Life emailed confirmation of its arrival on the Monday morning - a nice touch and one that is appreciated. Service like that goes a long way. As for what has happened with the Scottish Widows money I do not know yet.

In theory a last-minute Isa application could be completed up until midnight with the Alliance Trust platform, but in reality that was not ever going to be the case.

The daughter of a client had turned 18 and was eligible for a full Isa. She already had a Junior Isa but the paperwork involved in turning that into a normal Isa was too lengthy to contemplate. We therefore needed to open her Isa online and then phone Alliance Trust to remit funds by debit card, something that could only be done during working hours.

Technology has evolved sufficiently to enable 24-hour investing with almost no delay between sending and receiving funds. The problem is regulation, rules, and an unhealthy attachment to paperwork which means some providers’ tax-year end deadlines seem to creep backwards rather than forwards.

An unhealthy attachment to paperwork mean some providers’ tax year end deadlines seem to creep backwards rather than forwards.

Dennis Hall is managing director of Yellowtail Financial Planning