It will be compulsory to file tax returns using XBRL next year. Will the profession be ready, asks Santhie Goundar.

It’s official. From 1 April 2011, HM Revenue & Customs will no longer be accepting corporation tax returns by any method other than electronically, and have implemented the international IT data standard XBRL (which stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language) as the means by which all corporation tax returns should be submitted online. Unlike online submissions in pdf format, submissions in iXBRL – inline XBRL – are machine-readable, thus removing the need for manual input of the data into HMRC’s systems, while still retaining a human-readable format.

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