Making Tax Digital
MEET OUR Making Tax Digital TEAMFrom April 2019, HMRC is embarking on an ambitious plan of Making Tax Digital (MTD). The aim is for everybody to have a digital tax account that is periodically updated so that you, the taxpayer, can keep track of your affairs.
Will MTD affect me?
Starting in April 2019, all VAT registered businesses with a turnover in excess of £85,000 will be obliged to comply with MTD, and will therefore be required to do the following:
- Keep records in a digital format as required by the new regulations
- Create a VAT return from the digital records in MTD compatible software and provide HMRC with this information digitally
- Provide HMRC with VAT data on a voluntary basis
- Receive information from HMRC via the API platform in relation to your business’s compliance with obligations under the new regulations
How should I prepare for MTD?
For businesses who will be affected by the April 2019 deadline, put simply, this means that if you are not already maintaining your records digitally through a cloud accounting solution that will be MTD ready, you will need to do so by April 2019 to avoid the penalties that will apply to all businesses if their VAT submissions are not made in the appropriate way.
Anyone subject to MTD from April 2019 should start preparing now, it is not that far away. For all other businesses, you should start to think about what you need to do to be MTD ready.
The second phase that will bring all non VAT registered businesses within the scope of MTD has now been deferred past April 2020.
We will of course keep you updated as more information is released and in the meantime strongly recommend that if you are not currently maintaining your records digitally, you consider doing so now so your business is MTD ready. For businesses whose turnover exceeds £10 million, and all companies, MTD has also been deferred.
CBW MTD workshops
We will be running MTD workshops throughout the year looking at MTD and how it will affect your business. We will be addressing the likely challenges – especially in making your business MTD ready – but also the opportunities that it presents through better real time information and helping you plan for the way ahead. Please click here to read more about our workshops and to register your place.
Further information
To contact a member of the MTD team please email mtd@cbw.co.uk or call 020 7309 3800.