Making Tax Digital – Postponed

The Government has finally listened to concerns and has now decided to postpone the implementation of Making Tax Digital.  The roll out plan has been changed as follows:

• From April 2019 businesses and landlords with turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £85,000) will have to keep digital records, but only for VAT purposes. As VAT registered businesses are already required to make quarterly returns, no business will need to provide information to HMRC more regularly during this initial phase than they do at present.
• Businesses and landlords with a turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £85,000) will not be asked to keep digital records, or to update HMRC quarterly, for other taxes until at least 2020.
• Businesses and landlords with turnover below the VAT threshold can opt in to the Making Tax Digital system voluntarily. This means that businesses and landlords with a turnover below the VAT threshold will be able to choose when to move to the new digital system.

These are quite significant changes to the previously announced timetable and should give businesses and landlords more time to get used to the new system and plan ahead accordingly and also allow HMRC to test their software thoroughly before Making Tax Digital goes live.

If you would like to discuss this or any other aspect of your business, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0131 317 7377 when you will be put through to one of our team.