NINETY-nine per cent of accountants experienced problems while dealing with clients' tax returns in the past tax year, according to a survey.

And the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants blamed failures and errors on the Inland Revenue's self-assessment system.

The research found the most common causes of the problems were delays in processing returns (78 per cent), the Inland Revenue losing returns and other items (63 per cent) and late filing/penalty reminder notices issued where a return had been submitted on time (61per cent).

Ilyas Patel, ACCA spokesperson for the North West said: "These figures show that accountants and their clients have to suffer the financial consequences of Revenue inefficiencies, while the Revenue itself bears no financial responsibility for its mistakes."

The majority of suggestions for improvement involve the Revenue call centres, which ACCA members feel either need to be drastically improved with more and better trained staff, or abolished altogether, with a return to local tax offices. Accountants complained about the difficulty they had in getting through to Inland Revenue call centre staff, the lack of technical ability of staff when they did get through, and their inability or unwillingness to transfer the call to someone who could help.