FSA chief: More expertise needed to implement XBRL

News Article - 11 December 2006
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The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has said the UK is not well enough equipped to use advanced computer language XBRL.

When making it compulsory that business conduct electronic reporting, the FSA has said it will not force companies to implement the language, which had earlier been described as a vital part of the so-called semantic web, out-law.com reports.

According to the publication, the semantic web is the title given to a group of technologies which supporters say will constitute the future of web equipment.

"The FSA does not believe that there is sufficient XBRL experience within the UK currently to develop this system without incurring additional cost and risk," the FSA said.

It added that feedback from firms had shown that while the availability of XBRL software in the UK is increasing, it is still fairly low.

Last month, the big four accounting companies called for the replacement of quarterly financial statements with real-time, internet-based reporting, stating that XBRL could open "a brave new world" of data as well as lowering costs for users.

Article keywords: The UK's top accountancy firms have raised a number of concerns over Alistair Darling's amendments to the capital gains tax (CGT) regime.<br/><br/>Yesterday the chancellor announced an entrepreneur's relief of ten per cent on gains up to &#163;1 million. Gains upward of this will be taxed at a flat rate of 18 per cent.<br/><br/>Kevin Nicholson, UK head of entrepreneurs and private companies at PricewaterhouseCoopers, claimed that &quot;frequently tweaking&quot; the tax regime is adding to the complexity of the system.<br/><br/>Although generally praising the changes, Chris Sanger, Ernst &amp; Young's head of tax policy and adviser to the Federation of Small Businesses, raised concerns over the &#163;1 million limit, explaining that it is &quot;a disincentive to continued serial entrepreneurship&quot;.<br/><br/>David Kilshaw, head of private client advisory at KPMG in the UK, said yesterday: &quot;The new relief will add complexity. And this complexity will add to the red tape and costs for business.&quot;<br/><br/>Until businesses have seen the small print of the new regime, it is impossible to know exactly how much relief it will actually give, he added.

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