I am a 67 year old sole accountant with around 50 small clients. I use Excel, and Taxfiler for making sumissions. If I understand correctly, the tax return will be abolished in 2018-19 to be replaced by digital reporting to HMRC on a quarterly basic.
I have Parkinsons Disease, which as slowed me down, typing with one finger.
How on earth am I going to cope with this mega change, being on my own. I have difficulty getting clients to come round once a year, yet alone quarterly. I could not possibly complete 50 clients every quarter, and the additional stress with my medical condition. I could lose most of my clients whm I would have to make a possible additional charge to cover my time, even if I could cope.
Thoughts anyone?
Replies (22)
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Cheeky is right.
When MTD comes in you will be 70 do you really want to be
learning whole new systems and for how long will you get the benefit from them anyway.
Consider selling your fees now when they are in good order and still together, before clients start to move and its value drops. Market it now to complete on 1st Feb you will get one last payday out of the tax season plus 1 x your annual fees as a lumper.
I fully understand and appreciate your situation. My brother had a life threatening accident, almost 10 years ago, which required brain surgery. His extended recuperation meant that he had to decide to close his business and take enforced early retirement.
At the moment, the question of MTD (making tax digital) is only a consultation and, who knows, the parameters may become clearer during and after that period.
I imagine your work gives you purpose and is almost a form of therapy?
Couldn't you consider "disposing" of say 35 clients, retain the other 15 and see how that works in the new environment? You just might cope with a fewer number?
By the time the new regime arrives you will be almost 70 and, at that time, you may feel that a well earned rest is what's really needed?
I wish you well and hope you find your answer.
You re both really out of order. This situation is so unfair. If the practitioners cannot help clients, clients will not get support. So what if this person is 69. Can you tell me that MTD is really in anyone's interests? It's appalling to make businesses and landlords do this. The profession is weak in my opinion and no one has the balls to stand up and be counted. HMRC do not understand the implications of what they are asking . I can see my clients struggling and also myself. I think it may force me out too.
Life is often unfair, I should have been born a better footballer but sadly was not you have to make the best of the hand you are dealt.
If you are a member of an association let them know your feelings they have more clout than you as an individual, get some value for your subs.
If you want write loads of letters saying how bad you think it is.
You would be better off embracing it and putting plans in to gear to make it work for you.
Yes it will be late, yes the software will be crap, yes HMRC will implement it in the usual [***] poor fashion but one thing is a definate is that MTD will happen.
Our advice is sound, sometimes the true is not what people want to hear.
You re both really out of order. This situation is so unfair. If the practitioners cannot help clients, clients will not get support. So what if this person is 67. Can you tell me that MTD is really in anyone's interests? It's appalling to make businesses and landlords do this. The profession is weak in my opinion and no one has the balls to stand up and be counted. HMRC do not understand the implications of what they are asking . I can see my clients struggling and also myself. I think it may force me out too.
You re both really out of order. This situation is so unfair. If the practitioners cannot help clients, clients will not get support. So what if this person is 67. Can you tell me that MTD is really in anyone's interests? It's appalling to make businesses and landlords do this. The profession is weak in my opinion and no one has the balls to stand up and be counted. HMRC do not understand the implications of what they are asking . I can see my clients struggling and also myself. I think it may force me out too.
Out of order? Really?
If I was approaching 70, with or without Parkinson's, I would be thinking of retirement.
There's more to life than working until you drop.
you say they are "out of order"
then you say you may close your business as well!
isn't that hypocritical?
you say they are "out of order"
then you say you may close your business as well!
isn't that hypocritical?
This will be very difficult to comply with and costly to with no benefit. At the moment I see huge problems. I think it will lead to lots of financial and practical problems for many. It will be a huge burden and additional expense and it will mean more time on needless admin and less time working or much greater costs at minimum. I fail to see any benefits. To get correct tax means tax and accounting adjustments - so as for scanning an invoice to an app etc nonsense goes, this will not achieve an easy solution as we all know it is much more involved than that.
Yes I will respond to the "after announcement " consultation made by people who understand accounting, tax and business not one bit, one can only assume!
Have you provided extensive feedback to the consultation documents, as anybody is entitled to do and everyone in the profession probably should? Have you lobbied any professional body you are a member of to do the same? Have you written to your own MP on the subject? Or is it someone else who should "stand up and be counted"? The profession is weak in my opinion and no one has the balls to stand up and be counted. HMRC do not understand the implications of what they are asking .
But the responses have been based on the assumption that, for good or ill, MTD will go ahead in some form. If it is inevitable (and I'll grant that stopping it entirely does seem unlikely) then any plan based on that inevitability is not "out of order". What is out of order is calling other people out for accepting it will happen whilst making your own plans on that same basis.
"If the practitioners cannot help clients, clients will not get support".
Yes they will, they will go to agents that can support them.
Are you suggesting that current HMRC system works well and is good and easy to deal with?
It is sad that the OP may be forced out if he cannot cope.
I would however prefer to hear him receiving a lump sum and then maybe a part time job with the guy he sells his fees to, as opposed to him posting again in 3 years saying he his swamped with work and cannot cope with his clients in droves and his clients have become a liability compared to a relisable assets they are now.
"If the practitioners cannot help clients, clients will not get support".
Yes they will, they will go to agents that can support them.
Are you suggesting that current HMRC system works well and is good and easy to deal with?
It is sad that the OP may be forced out if he cannot cope.
I would however prefer to hear him receiving a lump sum and then maybe a part time job with the guy he sells his fees to, as opposed to him posting again in 3 years saying he his swamped with work and cannot cope with his clients in droves and his clients have become a liability compared to a realisable assets they are now.
I personally think that each of Cheeky, Glennzy and Time For a Change offered compassionate and sensible responses. I fail to see where there was any lack of order.
I personally think that each of Cheeky, Glennzy and Time For a Change offered compassionate and sensible responses. I fail to see where there was any lack of order.
I've gone over what I said and, sometimes, just sometimes, you wonder if SpecSavers is all it's cracked up to be!
He should not be forced into retirement when nothing is broke (as is better) as is!
Are you blind to reality?
No one has said that this member should be forced into retirement. The sad fact of life is, over time, changes take place, over which many of us, have little control.
Did you imagine that, if you protested, indeed, chucked your toys out of the pram that; self-assessment, RTI, AE, wouldn't have come along?
I don't particularly want to die but, at some stage, it's inevitable. Me ranting at my maker (whoever that might be) won't make a jot of difference.
However, I do see and appreciate the situation which the OP is in. HMRC won't give a monkeys - another reality!
You could certainly benefit from a reality check?
I admire you for still working despite your illness. I assume if you could afford to retire you would do so. As a mere 61 year old with a pension pot worth about £7000 a year at present I certainly can't afford to retire.
How about recruiting a part time AAT student during the summer months to help you out and show you how to use the new technology you'll need? Once you understand how to use something like Xero, you will wonder why you spent so long on Excel.
Given that most sole traders have no idea how to do even basic accounts I suspect HMRC will postpone the deadline for smaller clients, but who knows!
The fact is MTD is happening yes, we can moan about it but it will not change the governments decision.
My advice to the OP is sell his fees sooner rather than later as i feel it will be a buyers market, it is already happening in the area i specialise in one practice is struggling to get 50% of GRF
I have a feeling that the smaller clients are either going to be uneconomic and have no accountancy help or be taken over by the assembly line firms. What happens to the former ones I can't guess except DIY or the black economy.
This will cause HMRC a lot of headaches dealing with
un-reconcilable numbers that their systems cannot cope with
The first thing I would say is that there seems to an awful lot of people blowing this out of proportion, remember at the moment we know nothing about what will be required and when it will be required.
It may be perfectly possible to continue as you are with small modifications.
If not then you will need to look at changing, but that might not be as big a deal as you think, you are quite used to adapting to change in the line of business you are in so why should this be any different?
There are solutions that we have found that do not cost much and are easy to learn (forget all the talk about Xero, too expensive).
As Jonesy would say "Dont Panic"
At this stage I think it s highly unlikely that MTD will actually be introduced in the time frame and format that is proposed. Simple logic indicates that there will be so many Accountants, Agents and particularly Taxpayers who will be unable to comply (or refuse to comply) with this fantasy project, that HMRC would soon reach meltdown and tax revenues will start to dry up as people struggle with what is essentially a completely new tax system introduced before it is ready.
I think the Government may take this to the brink but ultimately they will back-off and accept that this project needs a lot more time and thought before going live.
We have seen this many times before in recent years where complex ideas are watered down at the last minute to more practical levels, and I think MTD will be no exception.
My advice, therefore, is to 'don't panic' and just see how things develop over the next year or so and then review the situation. My view is that the Government will have enough to do with managing Brexit and ensuring we take full advantage of the opportunities arising from that and will not want to have to try and deal with a tax system in crisis at the same time.
Interesting about the age thing of course. There will be many AW readers who will have to work until they are 68 at least, which is perhaps a bit more scary for them than MTD.