Has anyone come up with a suitable letter to send to clients explaining what MTD is about and what they must do to be compliant. I am a part-time bookkeeper. I am gradually getting the necessary software, etc in place (I am currently finding the costs prohibitive to the size of my business) but have yet to write to my clients. I do not fully understand this myself besides attending several webinars on the subject, so am finding it very difficult to put into writing for my clients. PLEASE HELP!!!
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I've sent a general one that says it is coming and everyone needs to take note, but I don't think we have enough to be sure exactly what is needed and when it will come in. I'd wait a week for the election at least as implementation timetable could change
Id at least wait until next week and see what government we have.
There is no business logic to MTD, so it may well be dropped if for example Michael Gauke is no longer an MP, its his baby. Everyone else things its a waste of time.
I'm not surprised Gauke has changed his name but HMRC have invested so much into this we can only hope for it to be watered down. Whether he's re-elected won't matter. He's already passed it on to some poor sod, Jane Ellison, who's trotting out the same nonsense in response to criticism.
The fact is, we can only be general about MTD because we're still low on detail.
heh!
David. David. David. David. David. David Git. Sorry Gauke. No Git might be right.
He is Ellison's boss however.
There are good parts to MTD, its just the mandatory quarterly reporting which is b*llocks. The APIs to pull the data HMRC hold onto SA return is exactly what should be happening, albeit they are so slow as to be only partially useful.
Edited to add, its nice to know b*llocks is not a swear any more, but a technical definition in the world of HMRC.
heh!
David. David. David. David. David. David Git. Sorry Gauke. No Git might be right.
No need to change the surname IMHO. My mother, who is from the midlands of Ireland had a great phrase which i can't disassociate from MTD. She would often refer to stupid people as gawk eejits. Feel free to share it.
Don't panic. No one knows anything at present. Nor do they fully understand he process. How can we when HMRC know sod all themselves We are all in the same boat. We have been cynically mentioning it to clients who are most bemused. Saying this letters are dribbling out to clients advisin them of quarterly returns etc
If you send a letter out now it'll be vague because we don't know any details. The response from your clients will then be either:
- Ignore it
- Call you to ask for details you can't provide.
No point at all in sending the letter.
Client phoned me just this morning re other matters, and then threw in the MTD curveball. My response was that I'll write out with information when I have something other than speculation to offer.
Until then, there's little point sending anything.
Dear Client,
Our tax collectors in their wisdom have announced the adoption of a project provisionally referred to as MTD to be finalised by April 2020 at the latest.
At present the project is in what is described as the " foetal beta testing stage " i e our masters are still debating what the initials MTD are to stand for.
Some veer towards More Trivial Datainput. Others prefer Making Trouble Delights but this option currently attracts only marginal support. Another contender coming up on the rails is Mollycoddling The Downtrodden but this is felt not to reflect the spirit of the law although it does accurately represent its letter.
By far the lead choice is the short but efective More To Do. This it is recignised encapsulates completely the raison d'etre of the effects of the proposal as it affects all stakeholders .
When decisions on this and ongoing evolving aspects are announced we will of course liaise again.
Dear Client,
Our tax collectors in their wisdom have announced the adoption of a project provisionally referred to as MTD to be finalised by April 2020 at the latest.
At present the project is in what is described as the " foetal beta testing stage " i e our masters are still debating what the initials MTD are to stand for.
Some veer towards More Trivial Datainput. Others prefer Making Trouble Delights but this option currently attracts only marginal support. Another contender coming up on the rails is Mollycoddling The Downtrodden but this is felt not to reflect the spirit of the law although it does accurately represent its letter.
By far the lead choice is the short but efective More To Do. This it is recignised encapsulates completely the raison d'etre of the effects of the proposal as it affects all stakeholders .
When decisions on this and ongoing evolving aspects are announced we will of course liaise again.
