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Will MTD go ahead?

14th Sep 2018
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Jack came back from an accounts and tax refresher course a few days ago looking very full of news.

He's heard rumours that HMRC are meeting in October to discuss whether MTD will go ahead in April 2019 in its present form.

After he'd shared that with us, we debated it amongst ourselves.

Paul's certain it won't go ahead. "I've been saying that for months, Allie. You know that. Listen to Paul. I've seen this all before. Mark my words. There will be no MTD in April 2019."

Maria believes they've come too far now to stop and it will go ahead. "No, Paul. They won't stop it now. They'd look so stupid if they stopped it. They're not going to lose face like that."

Me? Well, I'm not sure. I'm waiting to see what does actually happen. At the moment it's all conjecture and rumour.

We haven't made a campaign to tell our clients about MTD yet, because Henry believes it's for HMRC to tell business owners that they have to keep their books digitally and use a different filing system to send their VAT returns.

"Why should we do that, Allie?" he said when I asked him about it a few weeks ago. "They're changing the rules, let them tell business owners. Why should we spend our time doing that? I can't charge our clients for doing that, and I'm not taking the overhead."

I think he has a fair point.

So at the moment we're waiting to see what news we get in October as to whether MTD will or won't happen...

Replies (3)

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By nodrogbir
17th Sep 2018 11:54

We have been following Professions news and views on Making Tax Digital and are sending you information in a simple format to assist with the evaluation of the impact this mandatory legislation
will have on our clients and this firm.

We service 100 of the smallest SMEs and have been established 40 years. The owner is progressive and computer literate with 40 years experience in the Industry.

Looking at the Professional News we can see that almost all Accountants appear to have an opinion that MTD4V will have a negative impact on their business and client compliance. Only HMRC and Software Companies seem to be proactive about the legislation , interestingly they will not be the professional who have to implement these changes. HMRC have closed the door to so called Customers and Software Companies seem mainly interested in bombarding Accountants with emails to get the smallest SMEs signing up to expensive subscriptions.

We deal with a client base of ages between 45 and 80 years of age and these individuals where not taught at School how to use a computer or how to complete a complicated set of Accounts for Tax purposes. Most clients request we complete Accounts for them on a quarterly basis from prime records. HMRC are expecting the Accountant to train the client , have everything up to date and have the capacity to process this information immediately . This intervention will force many good people out of the profession and leave a shortfall of labour.

I would give you an opportunity to meet with me so that I can demonstrate why this will not work for HMRC and see this as being the biggest publication blunder ever for HMRC. In particular to not contact the taxpayer personally with such a fundamental change is beyond comprehension.

I would also like to make clear than many Government Departments and HMRC are still using paper
records and so think is hypocritical that such legislation is laid before such people as Chip Shop Owners or a Hairdresser.

I agree that technology will change the face of Accountancy but to “scare “ and “force “ taxpayers into submission will do nothing more than cause a flight or fight reaction. I have been proactive with my clients since MTD was first discussed and to date only one client has engaged with me.

Please contact me if you require further evidence and this firm has insufficient resources to deliver MTD4V.

Thanks (3)
By coolmanwithbeard
26th Sep 2018 06:33

It's my opinion that MTD4V will go ahead as it appears that the infrastructure is in place. There has also been some softening recently by HMRC to accommodate the process. For most small business who will be in this (VAT reg and having had turnover over the registration threshold) then they should already be using something compatible - which can be something far simpler than the original hyped nonexistantware HMRC talked about.

Most of the common small business packages are are now on the list and at a recent Thomson Reuter/Digita day they demonstrated a very effective piece of bridging software for anyone who has something that isn't on the list.

I know, therefore, that all my clients are or can be MTD ready in time.

As for full MTD well who knows!

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By Mitch
26th Sep 2018 11:29

Do decision yet made - call for evidence issued (very quietly) on 12 September with evidence to be submitted by 1 October:
https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-selec...

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