Hacienda has banned handwritten tax forms and will reject any sent in that are not “mechanically printed”.
Which is a bit of a bugger for the 35,000 tax payers who last year didn’t have access to a computer and actually went down to their nearest tax office, got the forms, found a pen and filled it in, longhand. Hacienda says that some tax payers -such as the elderly or the illiterate, their words – don’t have access to a computer or “mechanical printing device” and have to use a pen.
How does an “illiterate” person use a pen? Badly, one assumes.
All is not lost however, as Hacienda has said that although its official policy is not to help people fill in their tax form, if you turn up with all the details and an appointment, one of their friendly staff will fill it in on their computer and print it out for you.
A sensible solution!