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Making Tax Digitally Easily... a potted history

6th Mar 2017
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Hi I thought I would document the next change in the great british taxes manual that will come into being.   Just like Hector from the Self-Assessment days I was here before SA and like brexit will still be around the next morning.    From a small practice of 100 clients I find it laughable that HMRC thinks 4 reports a year will somehow be an improvement to the tax take and accuracy of the information.   Yeah the accountants will make more money, Yeah it will employ more software engineers to come up with systems to capture incomplete records and Yeah it will employ more HMRC staff to print it out.  If we return however to basic economics however what is the opportunity cost of such an exercise?

Could the software engineers work on smarter programmes in connection with production, medicine, research and development?  (Guns Vs Butter)

Hammonds 1st budget will trigger article MTD into the popular press.   Just like one the experts before him who abolished Advanced Corporation Tax on Pension funds, Gordon Brown, and created a big hole in the country, I feel this stealth tax will be as large.   After Gordon's steal the Sun Mail and even the times were silent on this for a number of years.    As he was awarded gongs from great financial institutions around the world 2008 dealt a swift reaction.  Part of the defence of underfunding of pensions is wholly down to this point.

Every profession thinks they are special and makes a special case to complain.   We are adept at coping with the changes in legislation and the whims of people with the power but have never really run a bath.   It is a pleasure to be a "part" of an any business giving advice where appropriate but it is sad to be a part of administration with no real benefit to business.   When the tax tail starts to wag the dog be careful what you grab.   I think this is a step too far even for the overconfident accountants who say "oh well if they can't complete a spreadsheet they are not worth having as a client".   In the last 30 years I know two very successful clients who struggle to use the internet.    Let's make sure we never over state our role.      

Well on the costs front:- opened an advert from IRIS and Croners.... seems excessive

 

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By SteveHa
14th Mar 2017 15:27

"Hammonds 1st budget will trigger article MTD into the popular press."

9/10 for optimism, 1/10 for fortune telling ability.

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By Billy Watson
14th Mar 2017 15:54

It is worse than that I didn't even hear him use the phrase MTD.
Who knows what the politicians will do? Nicola Sturgeon stole the show yesterday and Mrs May did not laugh like a clown yesterday.
Tinkering with the taxes act and adding new requirements will only see Real GDP reduce. In 1997 I purchased a laptop computer for £1,800 and today I purchased one for £400. Supply and demand ensures that in the long run aggregate demand will smooth out the excesses of the market.
These prices only fall because enough producers feel that they can enter the market. Excessive regulation, red tape and clogged up systems stifle the market.
1/10 for fortune telling reminds me of the amount of people that are excited about MTD....me thinks that will be HMRC staff keen to cling on to the coat tails of business

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