HMRC urged to ‘scale up’ digital tax reporting pilots

by Susie Hughes at 11:30 03/10/17 (News on Business)

HM Revenue and Customs has been called to ‘scale up’ the pilots of Making Tax Digital (MTD) and invest in a substantial publicity campaign for the project.

The President of the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) Graham Batty said: “Pleased as we are about the relaxation in the timetable for quarterly reporting and digital record keeping – and proud of the part we played in making it happen – this is still an area requiring close and immediate attention from both tax professionals and policy-makers. Advertisement “The pilots which HMRC have begun need to be scaled up, run over a full financial cycle and fully evaluated. That means checking not just that reports can be made but that those reports are accurate. And assessing and publishing the compliance costs for the businesses taking part. “Very few businesses currently understand the impact which the Making Tax Digital obligations will have on them. That means it is essential that HMRC have an adequate budget for a sustained publicity campaign to explain how and when MTD will be introduced and how businesses can prepare. “We want to grasp this opportunity to work with HMRC to devise a version of MTD that works. Not just making tax digital, but making it doable.” Delay In July, the Government deferred compulsory digital record keeping and quarterly reporting by small businesses and landlords for income tax purposes until at least April 2020. This meant that smaller businesses have much longer to familiarise themselves with digital record keeping and find the right software and processes suitable for their business. The original proposed start date was April 2018. Tweet -- If you wish to comment on this article, please log in and use the Reply button below. Registering is free and easy - see 'Join Shout99'. - Susie Hughes © Shout99 2017

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