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I registered my own practice for MTD earlier in the year so I could test MTD before imposing it on my clients. I also set up my Agent Services Account. There was of course problems with linking the ASA account to software. After numerous calls and emails with HMRC it was determined there was something wrong with my ASA account and they gave me instructions as a work around. They of course didn't work. I have emailed HMRC told them it doesn't work and they are now just ignoring me, basically they don't know what to do and I'm pretty much on my own with it.
The funny thing was, and yes there is a funny side. I had to email a pdf of my VAT return so they could file it manually. I have since had a letter stating that my VAT return hasn't been filed.
What a nightmare and what do I tell my clients when I also have to file their VAT returns by email and they get letters stating they haven't been filed.
Unhappy clients, unhappy accountants. Top job HMRC.
I wish we were like GP's, with their guaranteed large monthly salary, guaranteed work and huge pension pots enabling them to retire in their mid 50's. With a couple of days a week locum work they can also retire and be on the same income as before without the stress.
Any Accountants out there in their position. Very few I would wager.
Very interesting article. I made the call to stop audit work 9 months ago. Probably get myself into trouble but the "support" I got from the ICAEW was for them to insist on cold file reviews for the audits still to be completed despite my notification of intentions and an honesty by me about struggling mentally. This then coincided with the illness and subsequent death of my mother in law, which left me actually with an anger at the ICAEW. My very cynical view that this topic gets lip service in Economia but in practice is not considered.
Disgraceful. I wonder how many cold file reviews ICAEW conducted into all the dodgy bank audits their high up partners did in 2007 and 2008, the well dodgy Globo audit, the well dodgy Carillion audit, etc etc. etc..
Put it this way, the smart money is on a number less than 1!
Not really QAD responsible for quality assurance at all ICAEW firms which extends to multiple areas, but audit covered by FRC for PIE audits.
Not a bad article, Richard, but you've left out the most important thing of all. It is HMRC's determination to rid this country of small business so one man bands go on to PAYE where they are easier to control. Basically MT gave the ordinary worker a chance to buy their own home and start their own business. It worked. Then along came GB and started to destroy that legacy. There is no REAL reason why MTD should be mandatory. I have no doubt that with a proper structured plan MTD would be accomplished naturally within 10 to 15 years. So why the need for speed? The idea is to put every small business under so much pressure in a short space of time so that the small business empire will collapse. What you have seen with Brexit will be a tea party to what will happen when HMRC try and put the under £85k threshold business onto MTD.
Basically MT gave the ordinary worker a chance to buy their own home and start their own business. It worked. Then along came GB and started to destroy that legacy.
Bless Maggie ! She did try to give power to the ordinary person and business.
I'm out because of they way HMRC now operate, the malign, greedy influence of the software companies cirlcling MTD and the accounting industry like vultures around a corpse and because as a rule the governing bodies are just interested in crowing about who's the best, biggest and fleecing members hundreds a year for a few pointless magazines and earache.
If accountants were regulated, had cohesive, powerful governing bodies like the medical and legal profession there wouldn't be such a mess.
Just sitting back now and waiting for it to collapse.
the malign, greedy influence of the software companies cirlcling MTD and the accounting industry like vultures around a corpse
Couldn't agree more. It's been an eye-opener to watch how these software companies operate knowing they have their clients over a barrel. I refuse to give them any money because of what I have seen. Will be using MTD bridging software until I'm forced off it rather than signing up to a monthly subscription which in some cases equates to a third of the client fee.
I find vtsoftware not greedy. very reasonable
I have just used them on MTD and they are great.
VT is now owned by Iris who also now own Taxfiler who have just doubled their prices so it may not be long until VT follow suit.
This is absolutely not true. We will NEVER sell to IRIS.
Philip Hodgson
Director and owner
VT Software
That's good, I have been using you for 20 years... thank you for the excellent service over the years .
I find vtsoftware not greedy. very reasonable
I have just used them on MTD and they are great.
yes we have all had to adapt, yes things have changed over the last 5 years much more than the previous 10/15 years and that can be stressful, This is not something unique to us though, society as a whole has completely changed and for many become much more stressful.
I still cannot imagine doing anything else where you are pretty much sure of a decent recurring annual fee if you do your job properly. From our point of view MTD was a way to engage even more with clients, and provide them with real time support which they are happy to pay for
Completely agree however HMRC needs to ensure that they provide a system and the technology that actually works. Any accountant that thinks they shouldn't adapt or embrace the changes will fall by the wayside but all parties need to do their bit, especially the ones imposing the changes.
My feeling is that MTD is pointless - the information HMRC will get is the same as before and the accuracy will be no better possibly worse judging by what we have seen with clients operating new bookkeeping systems which are too clever by half for simple people. Wrong VAT rates being applied is the most common area followed by duplicated entries and so on.
Add to this the time wasted training bookkeepers on the new systems where they were perfectly accurate on older systems.
So far excel based answers seem to be the most effective but that isn't what HMRC are wanting. Older clients really struggle with the new fancy 'we can do everything including blow your nose' programs.
Usual story I suppose HMRC, HMG and the accounting bodies not living in the real world where older clients would prefer to earn money rather than play with bookkeeping systems that are complex to work.
Yes - before anyone says it - I am one who finds the new generation of programs less easy to work than what went before. They just take longer to process and when the client goofs off it is much slower to correct. So much for progress.
Its currently nothing much more than an ordinary VAT return. But do you really think that HMRC will not slowly increase the amount of info that is required to be submitted via MTD?
I seem to recall statements that it would be the general ledger in full (eventually). Maybe wrong as MTD is so boring I stopped reading. But by nature I am cynical.
Accountancy used to be simple honest work without problems. Look after your clients and get paid. The recent changes in regulation have introduced huge additional burdens on Practice as well as businesses they serve. One needs ask to what benefit to the Client?
To wit, we have clients who have very happily traded for decades on paper systems. They operate simple (but profitable) businesses. They really don't need computers and digital systems. MTD is imposing significant costs on them as well as stress for us setting it up before an arbitrary deadline.
The extra complication imposed by recent regulations have made the job unnecessarily difficult. Selling up begins to look like an attractive option. But I wonder who benefits when small practice is forced to give up and sell?
I have just used MTD for the first time; submitting VAT on MTD. I would say wow! its good, its quick and easy.
The main problem is registration and HMRC as always. The system appear to be not ready. To register a client appears to be going round a roundabout and cant go anywhere. It should be easy but HMRC system is not ready.
Registration takes hours and the stress of not knowing where you are going.
HMRC must ry to use their ystem to find out how difficult it is. I left a numerous negative feed back but they never improve.
HMRC is very very very frustrating to deal with. When I call them, it took hours before they answer and when they answer they dont appear to know or have a solution.
Registration, goes round and round and round. You'll get there in the end. Its okay if you only have one client to register. We have several.
Of course registering for your pracrise too is a problem.
I have never not followed a rule until this. I don't have the time or inclination to register so I am going to continue to file as now and pay my VAT on time as ever and wait until they chose to pull the plug or fine me. I do have problem with change generally in all sorts of areas and always have since I was about age 5 so that makes me not the best guinea pig for MTD.
I filed recently for the first time since MTD for VAT came in but using the old way. I am sure they will start cutting people off soon but hopefully not for a year or so and only once it has become a two second job to register for MTD for VAT.
Don't do that . All that will happen is you will get a fine. HMRC are not a person. They are a machine and they will come after you and never stop and fine you again and again. Like the Terminator :)
Email me and I will send you the stuff so you can do this in 10 minutes with no stress
All this is before we even consider the never-ending clamour for "equality and diversity" in the profession.
Am I the only one seeing this as a way to be able for HMRC to cross reference future VAT claims so that they can check that company A has paid the VAT on their sales BEFORE company B claims it on their purchases? The next step will surely be to INSIST that purchase ledger & debtor ledger names are matched to their VAT numbers for this purpose.
Whatever the future changes are this initial change just sets the foundation. It is not a pointless change, as although it is currently the same information, the infrastructure for more information now has a platform to build from. It does mean that spreadsheets will have to go and that information will be tagged (a la xrbl) so that more sense can be made of it by HMRC computers.
As with RTI and PAYE it means greater care is needed along the way as changes will lead to questions.
The only sensible way forward is to embrace so that as step changes come in you are ready for them.
Some of the comments re MTD mirror those when we started with ELS. We have to look for the positives and keep up as at some point the leap will need to be made and the longer it's left the further you will need to jump.
I write this as a sole trader accountant who already had all that need to be on software on it, not for MTD but because I thought it the best way to operate and the best solution for me and the clients.
I use IT too but clients don’t and its the way we can no longer summary information I’m finding hard to understand !
Spreadsheet will never go. HMRC were going to abolish them but they were stopped.... how do you think plcs do vat? You think they have one system that spits it out?
Take Boots the chemist
it sells standard stuff
it has spectacles and hearing aids
it sells drugs
it has property... capital goods scheme
Its partially exempt sometimes
there's 100s of subsidaiaries with different accounting systems.... all added up on a s/s by the vat accountant...
you cant stop spreadsheets plcs wouldn't have it....
This kind of thing already happens in other countries. So whilst HMRC aim to be the most digitally engaged tax authority in the world, they are some way behind others (in surprising places such as Brazil and Turkey).
This first phase of MTD, which as others say doesn't change the information submitted to HMRC, is only the start of what I expect will be numerous phases of change requiring greater levels of detail to be submitted at each phase. Some of which is already laid out in the details published for the implementation of MTD 4 CT/IT.
It's a shame HMRC can't appreciate the work that we do, they don't see that accountants hold the whole tax system together and without us the system would collapse.
Embrace the change and make it work for your practice, or don't bother and keep on complaining.
HMRC are a dream to deal with compared to most other tax authorities I have dealt with across Europe.
Some years ago I became very stressed with a client investigation. The client was, tbh a bit dodgy and the tax inspector was quite aggressive and unreasonable. Initially (as I always did back then) I saw my role as a sort of buffer between the two (piggy in the middle more like!)
One day I decided to change that dynamic and picture the relationship as more like a triangle, where I advised the client on what needed to be done, but took no personal responsibility when the client produced questionable replies, or when the Tax Inspector was unreasonable.
I feel we need to take that sideways step with MTD/other current madness, and effectively say to clients, "MTD/Brexit/IR35 etc etc are not our fault, they are what they are, and if you want to be in business, you need to do XYZ and we can help you with that".
Not sure what all the fuss is about. Just tell clients to register on their account and submit next VAT using bridging software.
Brand new client, a plumber turned up on Thursday morning... big pile of stuff to be input and submitted under MTD didn't want to do it himself..... We loaded it in a spreadsheet, registered him submitted it.... all done by noon today (Friday).
Whats the difference with what we used to do?...you just click submit instead of loading the numbers into their website
The problem is from your description you don’t understand how a set of accounts are put together and are lacking experience . I may be wrong but that’s how I felt after reading the post . It sounds like you just number crunch which is why you are not phased . If that’s all it’s about why are Hmrc doing MTD?
You may be right. It is a constant struggle.
I probably need a bit more experience as I only have 2,500 clients and 30 staff, ( including 18 of us qualified) and I have been a CA and registered auditor for 30 years as well as being on one of the ICAEW committees. If I can get it up to 3000 clients, I think I will then have ''made it.''
So yes, even now I struggle to understand how a set of accounts are put together ;)
is it
FRS102
FRS 102 S1a
IFRS
UK GAAP
FRS 105
decisions decisions...…
I know why MTD is being introduced, well I mean I can take a good guess...
VAT is the start then there's going to be all the other stuff they are talking about... but
Its going to come down to the tax rules for very large companies being applied unilaterally across the board to self employed and small companies and indeed everyone else doing a tax return.. You know the ones where you pay the CT quarterly and the quarterly payments are made 2 weeks before the end of the quarter...
So they can accelerate the tax payments so we can pay for #brexit ;)
Ah in other words you don’t do the actual work and that’s the reason for your post . I was correct but at the wrong end of the scale . You should job swap for a day with a junior then you might understand more about Mtd . Some of the largest accountants make the biggest errors!
I agree mostly with what you say, however your plumber is not complying with MTD is he if he is not keeping a digital record of receipts and is just relying on you to sort through the paper and input them onto excel - the whole point of MTD is that data is captured and stored electronically.
Thats the difficulty as I see it, we have all clients on software/bank feeds etc but there are some we are really struggling with to get them fully compliant, I am not worried for now but further down the line this will become an issue
So presumably what you are saying is entering the receipts into excel is not capturing and storing them electronically? Really? Why?
...and bridging software to submit this info has been designed and approved for nothing?
Or are you saying that a bank feed must be down loaded and input into a spreadsheet... why?
A sales day book and a purchase day book are adequate accounting records for a micro business. VAT works on VAT invoices ( generally) so you need to check each entry to the invoice to claim the vat. No vat invoice no vat reclaim. So invoice input complies and is the quickest way to do this.
Its one bloke and his bag of spanners here, not Pimlico plumbers.....
I agree with this but input and outputs are not enough for a full set of accounts so the reality is that extra records are required and if your not computer savvie you are forced to employ an accountant and that if fundamentally flawed when Hmrc say no extra cost is involved .
We are all unfortunately familar with losing many billable hours due to HMRC's inadequate software and dire communications skills or rather lack of them.
I finally had one of their number answer the phone (it only took 1 hr and 4 minutes). He was speaking with his trainer at the time.
I was told by HMRC MTD online helpdesk that the information given on the MTD webinairs by their colleagues last week was incorrect.
I asked whether there was any point in attending these webinairs? total silence!
I do believe we should all write to our MPs asking him/her to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons a question with regard to HMRC's inability to handle MTD communications with accountants.
Accountingweb, how about putting this forward on your members behalf?
Hey tax 91
You seem to be struggling a bit here. Do you want our spreadsheet that does this all for you, the instruction booklet that tells you how it works and the information leaflet how to implement MTD in 10 minutes with the spreadsheet?
Let me know and I will send it … no charge
if so..... [email protected]
We are all unfortunately familar with losing many billable hours due to HMRC's inadequate software and dire communications skills or rather lack of them.
I finally had one of their number answer the phone (it only took 1 hr and 4 minutes). He was speaking with his trainer at the time.
I was told by HMRC MTD online helpdesk that the information given on the MTD webinairs by their colleagues last week was incorrect.
I asked whether there was any point in attending these webinairs? total silence!
I do believe we should all write to our MPs asking him/her to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons a question with regard to HMRC's inability to handle MTD communications with accountants.
Accountingweb, how about putting this forward on your members behalf?
We need to stand together on this . The pro MTD on Aweb must be young and after money from clients of the back of MTD !
Let's face it , stress is due to the ridiculous amount of compliance and AML work combined with the constant changes in reporting standards.
I have seen those who love all this nonsense. They all have something in common that I do not wish to discuss here.
Being a practitioner does not seem to be a profession anymore. It is just like an agency; 'Statutory Auditor' acting on behalf of the government (as the term implies) and a Tax Accountant acting on behalf of HMRC. No accountant tries to reduce a tax bill anymore; those days are gone for ever.
Your mental health is not worth it. Just let some others get on with it and go and do something relaxing.
You were clever enough to pass the exams which means you can do anything.
Why are you holding on to standards and values that are no longer needed in the modern world.