MTD is go - live reaction
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Oh for God's sake AWEB. Today of all days you are going to dive into this as it arrives and start trying to pick it apart like some over-eager kids who can't wait to unwrap their birthday presents?
Take time to review the docs. Make some considered judgements. Post an article in the next two days.
We aren't children. We can wait.
Thanks for your input Tim. We didn't choose to publish the documents today, but the feeling from the editorial team was that it would be remiss of us not to report on them.
The coveritlive box is meant to be a way of providing an immediate reaction to the results for those who want it. Further, more considered analysis will appear on the site in due course.
Looking forward to hearing what you make of it Tim...
Well done to AccountingWeb for getting the summary out to us. If we are busy it's good to know the headline information even if our priority is getting the remaining tax returns submitted. I'm sure there will be a lot more information soon.
It's a pity they are still messing about with the exemptions. At least if we knew the exemptions we would have a better idea which clients were affected immediately or maybe not at all.
Just reading the preamble, it's obvious that HMRC have listened to none of the responses, with them "considering" the exemption, and still go for April 2018.
Methinks the Treasury will be bankrupt by April 2019.
Thanks for your feedback, Tim.
We didn't set the timetable for releasing the consultation documents and thought members would appreciate a quick overview of the key points (which we're still digging out).
The live chat was designed for those who are not tied down with tax returns this afternoon - we're getting some useful info from people like Tony Margaratelli (ICPA), Steve Checkley (TaxCalc) and Mark Purdue (Thomson Reuters), not to mention our very own Rebecca Cave.
Be assured that we will be back with more considered analysis in the next few days and weeks... (and beyond that too - there are a LOT of implications to cover).
Good luck and best wishes for the rest of the day.
Well, we have to do something. I though we were going down last year but at least I had a glimmer of hope , and so it proved, the Chelsea game being fantastic. This year I have felt relegation is inevitable.
Hope to get down for the Sunday game against City in early March(Saturday games are difficult for daughter who is now working Saturdays)
Okay Tom, if you want to know what I think.
1. We don't know much more than we did yesterday, or indeed 4 months ago.
2. The devil is in the detail.
3. There is, as yet, no detail.
Ah, our new revenue stream:
Flinging rubbish data at HMRC every quarter.
So techies, what I need is a big spreadsheet which has one row per client. In each row we populate the 3 line P&L for estimated data for the year. The spreadsheet then divides by 4 and randomizes the data bit +/- 5% , and auto files once a quarter using pre-populated system.
I press the button every 3 months, and charge our clients £25 a pop. I reckon that's £20k on my bottom line for 2018/9.
Trebles all around.
That made me Titter.
There was an anti Trump rally in Newcastle yesterday where one of the great unwashed had a banner along the lines of "Trump cannot do Trebs"
MTD just winds me up and I am not even going to think about it till Autumn. Much more important things to think about
I'm going to start a year early with all my clients who need balance sheets. This is to avoid dealing with two accounting years at once.
The thing is, my suggestion is not a joke.
That is what will actually happen in practice given HMRC are not using the data we are filing.
Its just sitting there doing nothing, until we file the year end data.
The onus is to file SOMETHING, what we file has no impact on the tax payer, urgo, the quality of it is utterly irrelevant, so it can just be manure.
My spreadsheet app as above would be somewhat more accurate than just using raw cashflow data in any case for most SME'S. It could easily be flexed up and down.
What is of more concern is what you have to file over threshold as part of the "VAT returns plus"
"Year end reporting deadline extended to 10 months rather than nine, so “a business with a year end of 31 March will have the same timeframe to close of this business tax stream as the rest of their non-business income”, noted Checkley."
I was happy when limited companies deadline was reduced by a month. This meant that most of my limited company clients had a deadline of 31 December whereas my personal tax clients had a deadline of 31 January. This made the work load more achievable.
I know I say it every year but my busy period will be the first six months. Anything I receive in the last four months risks a fine.
To the software companies:
I would happily pay a decent subscription for a spreadsheet that works as specified by ireallyshouldknowthis.
To everyone else:
Is it a coincidence this comes out on 31 January? I don't think so!
For. Small practitioners this relly tells us nothing on what we were waiting to hear. We needed them to raise the exemption limit to at least the VAT registration threshhold and we needed a deferment of the start date for these small businesses. Both of these points are 'still being considered'. We all know what that means....no changes will be made on either point.
Also their estimate of the 'additional costs' that small businesses will incur is ludicrously low...did we really expect anything different.
They have merely been paying 'lip service' to our main concerns and accordingly the whole thing will end up being a shambles.
Definitely time for me to retire !!
Just looked at HMRC website and there have been 17 yes 17 documents released today all on MTD, I wonder it the Office of Tax Simplification would like to comment on how their input has made this blizzard of information any less intimidating?
Am I the only one fed up with hearing about MTD?
It appears as though we don't know anything different to yesterday. Article after article is just a variation of the last using information we have had for months. It fills column space though I suppose.
I was fed by about last June, and my position is unchanged since.
95% of my clients are Ltd Co's so have a few years before it will be an issues.
I will be using that time to do something of value like improving my client base.
What is happening with business that don't have a year end of 31 March or 5 April? Is their "10 month window" based on the tax year or their trading year?
This is my reply to the e-mail I've just had from the MTD team, I encourage everyone to do something similar:
It is hard to understate what an unbelievably incompetent project this is.
At the moment, the data from RTI is all over the place. I have one client in debt management because you still – despite being informed repeatedly – have not processed the NI holiday for 2013-14.
The data for self-assessment is all over the place. You’ve just started an enquiry into 2013-14 for one client – 3 years down the tracks and you’ve not even processed most of the pages on the return, you can’t make this stuff up!
VAT is erratic. I have one client for whom AAM knows I cannot even enter a VAT return into the system because of the mess HMRC have made of that.
Debt management for any tax practically never has the same information as the database, for external debt collectors it’s even worse.
I rated the forerunner to HMRC 8 out of 10 back in 1994. I rated HMRC 2 out of 10 in 2009, and 1 out of 10 in 2015.
Instead of coming up with this Making Tax Diabolical drivel at 100 miles per hour, you should be fixing and stabilising the system as it currently operates, to the point where HMRC can at least move up from 1 out of 10 to say 4 or 5.
Dealing with HMRC is by far, BY FAR the worst part of my job. The service is so shoddy. But BY FAR the worst aspect of HMRC is the arrogant and incompetent people at the top of the organisation. MTD just highlights this.
I wold be really grateful if someone could expand on the MTD timetable.
This article does not provide enough clear and concise information about what exactly is going to happen and when we will all need to act.
we can't do much acting until HMRC tell us who is affected and there's compatible software available.
we could always get clients on the big online software now
Are the commercial software companies REALLY going to provide free software to taxpayers?
1Tap which to me looks ideal for small sole trader window cleaner/ Taxi Driver type client gave away 50,000 free versions of the app (now gone) they are currently selling it at £19.99 as a special offer with £119.99 as the full retail price (seems expensive at that level for an app)
So I cannot see there been much in the way of free stuff being free for long.
1Tap is still good value at £19.99 and would get your clients on it before its gone.
Is there any change in HMRC's plans to prevent agents from accessing clients' Digital Tax Accounts?
How will agents be able to assess what their clients have submitted UNLESS they check each and every submission in advance?
I suppose you need to do the submissions for clients. If you let them do the submissions then you have to be able to see what they have submitted.
I run a small business and a buy-to-let business with revenue over £10,000. I run these on two separate spreadsheets. My accountant uses my business spreadsheet to verify my VAT quarterly and to produce the formal end of year accounts.
For me the consultation has brought about an improvement. It specifically declared that spreadsheets can continue to be used as the source data store and that three line submission can be used for small businesses.
The changes for me are a) get a bit of software to communicate with HMRC b) write the Excel extract to summarise transactions between date 1 and date 2 c) send the info to HMRC every quarter.
The quarterly reporting within 1 month will be a pain but I do not have any concerns about getting the software or writing the extract