Goldwyns News

Since we went to print for our Autumn issue of inFocus you may have heard that HMRC have finally announced a delayed implementation for Making Tax Digital (MTD).

This welcomed but not unexpected confirmation was made in July after much resistance from various professional bodies. The announcement will mean the first changes only take effect from 2019 and will only affect compulsorily VAT registered businesses. All others will not be required to keep digital tax records until at least 2020.

The announcements were received with some relief as MTD represents a major overhaul of the current tax administrative system. With a distinct lack of tangible information on implementation fears were mounting that this was another over-ambitious project rushed through without proper preparation. Given the amount of work involved, a cynic might wonder if HMRC are struggling to secure enough IT contractors just a few months after the introduction of toughened new rules for off-payroll public sector workers…

However, at the moment this only represents a delayed implementation and HMRC strategy is still headed very much towards regular digital reporting. We hope with a little more breathing space we will now get a clearer picture of how MTD will work in practice so all of our clients can start properly preparing accordingly.