Making Tax Digital

If it hasn’t already been on your to-do list then it definitely should be by now! Believe it or not it’s now less than 90 days until the first phase of the new Making Tax Digital (MTD) legislation comes into effect for VAT.

MTD will come into effect on Monday, April 1st, 2019 meaning that all UK businesses with a turnover above the VAT threshold of £85,000 will need to keep digital records and submit VAT returns digitally.

Making Tax Digital is an HMRC initiative designed to ensure that the UK tax system is effective, efficient and supports HMRC’s plans to be one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world. For many the introduction of Making Tax Digital will signify the end of paper based accounting systems and those using electronic spreadsheets such as Excel, will need to invest in specialist accounting software or bridging software capable of sending and receiving data from the HMRC website.

Any Accountant can advise on when, and how to digitalise a paper based system, and members are encouraged to raise any specific individual queries directly with their Accountant or HMRC. Those who already hold a digital submission exemption will automatically continue to be exempt.