Taxman’s microfiche ordeal

TAX officials have been forced to use Ebay to find spare parts for decrepit microfiche readers due to demand for old employment data, it has emerged.

Jon Thompson, HMRC’s chief executive, told MPs that most pre-Seventies records can only be read on decadesold machines. Some customers are left waiting more than a year as officials search warehouses for historic employment records. Individuals are able to request their employment history if they are making a compensation claim for an industrial injury, a road accident, medical negligence or hardship.

Mr Thompson said: “The microfiche records from the Forties and Fifties are very hard to access. I can’t promise you a short-term leap in our performance but we do recognise that that challenge is there.”

An HMRC spokesman said: “We ask people to bear with us – we will try and get to their requests but it may take some time to do so.”