The age of the Self Assessment system made it more difficult for HMRC to provide financial support for the self-employed. Its tax system for the self-employed lags behind that available in other countries. The Self Assessment system was built in the 1990s, and its design and age limits the amount, timeliness and quality of the data that HMRC holds on the self-employed. HMRC had to cleanse the data in the system before it could use it, adding several weeks delay to introducing the SEISS. HMRC has an ongoing programme, Making Tax Digital, designed to upgrade its systems and permit users to provide information more frequently using digital devices—as opposed to the current annual tax return. Making Tax Digital should have been in place by 2019 but, apart from a pilot project, is now not due until 2023. By contrast, HMRC’s investment in the Real Time Information system in 2013 gave HMRC access to much more timely data about employees on the Pay-As-You-Earn system. Therefore, it was able to use this for the design of CJRS and base eligibility on more up-to-date information. Recommendation: HMRC should write to the Committee within three months to explain what it has learnt from its review of other countries’ self-employed systems and how it will apply these to its plans for delivering the Making Tax Digital programme.