Government Gateway due to launch today

Gateway is the key to offering information focused on citizens rather than civil servants, and services to the public. It will be backed by a new project for secure transactions on the Internet.

Cabinet Office minister Ian McCartney is expected to announce that VAT returns to Customs & Excise and PAYE returns to the Inland Revenue will be among the first transactions to be available online.

Last November, the Cabinet Office pulled the plug on a Compaq-led consortium and took charge of the Gateway project itself. Microsoft, Cable & Wireless and Viacode - the Royal Mail's digital security service - were enlisted to provide the technology, with PA Consulting delivering support services.

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