It’s time the tax year ended on a sensible date

SIR – I have spent 40 years calling for the tax year to end on a more sensible date (Leading Article, April 9).

One of several spurious excuses the Treasury has given for keeping the current date is that it would be impracticable to change it. Yet many other countries have changed the end of their tax years without difficulty. One notable example is the Republic of Ireland, when it joined the euro.

In a survey I conducted of the nation’s top 200 employers, 72 per cent said they wanted a more sensible year-end. One reason given was that businesses account for salaries in whole calendar months, whereas HMRC expects employers to account for PAYE in months that run from the sixth of one to the fifth of the next.

Other taxes (such as VAT) have their year-end on March 31. It’s high time the Government changed our personal tax returns accordingly.