Making Tax Digital Part 1

MAKING TAX DIGITAL: Part 1 The background and the plan

What is Making Tax Digital?

Making tax digital (MTD) is a raft of changes that will result in taxpayers having to keep their business accounting records electronically and filing returns electronically to HM Revenue & Customs linked to these accounting records.  The deadline for starting Making Tax digital is any VAT returns due after 1 April 2019 so there are only 8 months until business owners must start keeping their records electronically and making electronic submissions.  

Which businesses must comply with Making Tax Digital (MTD)

All businesses who are required to file VAT returns, i.e. With annual taxable turnover in excess of £85,000 will need to comply with Making Tax Digital.  If the business has voluntarily registered for VAT with a threshold below £85,000 then they can still file VAT returns by going onto HMRC website and logging into their VAT account and filing the return as before.

All of these businesses will need to now review the software and processes they use to file their VAT returns to ensure compliance with the new regime.

How can Beatons assist?

The transition from the current filing arrangements for VAT purposes to Making Tax Digital will be different for every business dependent upon the systems and software they currently use. 

Beatons can assist in the transition process with a number of options

• Review your current practices and systems to see whether these will be MTD compliant
• Review whether your current software will be compatible and costs if appropriate for upgrades (as accountants we can often offer cheaper software than purchased direct from software providers)
• Review available software options (there are currently 27 software options for making tax digital but with 150 software suppliers discussing with HM Revenue & Customs there are lots of options and we can
• Offer ongoing support with accountancy software, reviewing quarterly filing and accounting queries
• Offer an outsourcing solution which takes over your bookkeeping requirements including Making Tax Digital and frees you up to focus on your business.

In part 2 next month we will cover more on the penalties that HM Revenue & Customs will impose for failing to comply and a few ideas on how to cope with the practical issues moving to Making Tax Digital will cause. 

In the meantime if you are concerned on how these changes will affect you please contact mandy@beatons.co.uk or call 01473659777 to arrange a meeting or visit our website www.beatons.co.uk/makingtaxdigital