28

Apr

Legislation to implement the government’s Making Tax Digital initiative has been put on hold.

There has been widespread criticism of the plans for MTD, which would see businesses and the self-employed submit multiple tax returns online via computers or smartphones.

However, following last week’s announcement of a general election, The Finance Bill 2017 has been slimmed down considerably from 135 clauses to 72 clauses, including Making Tax Digital. This decision has been met with positive feedback from the accountancy sector.  Hurray for some simplification!

Although the legislation may still be passed in the future, many accountants and tax experts have welcomed the opportunity to properly discuss and debate the proposed legislation further before it becomes law.

Making Tax Digital was introduced by the government as a way to prevent errors in tax returns and was expected to come into force in April 2018.

However, the plans faced criticism with many tax and accountancy professionals highlighting that the changes would mean individuals and businesses will have to deal with a tax deadline of one sort or other during most months of the year.

Self-employed taxpayers with turnovers of over £85,000 were expected to be the worst hit by the changes, who from April 2018 would have had to file at least five returns per tax year in addition to regular VAT returns.

Many in the profession have also raised concerns that some individuals and small businesses- particularly those without current access to the internet- would struggle with the online process.

So once again, we will be watching for more information and will pass it on.