UK Chancellor Gordon Brown has confirmed how much people will save by submitting their tax returns online.

As revealed by BBC News Online more than two months ago, the government is to introduce the incentives in the Budget on 21 March.

Mr Brown says self-assessment taxpayers who file their returns by e-mail from April, and pay any tax due electronically, will receive a discount of �10.

The idea is to get more people to embrace the internet, while also delivering substantial savings to the Inland Revenue through reducing the need for staff to handle posted forms and key in personal details.

But the discount is much less than had been expected and is unlikely to do much to persuade people to change their ways.

Underwhelming

There had been speculation that the Inland Revenue had dismissed a �50 discount as not enough, and that up to 5% of the total tax bill (�200 for average earners) was being considered.

The government says it is also keen to boost small businesses and to that end is introducing further discounts from April 2001.

Small businesses that file their VAT returns or PAYE end of year returns via the internet and pay any tax due electronically will receive a discount of �50 on each (i.e. �100 if both are submitted by e-mail).