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I am totally sorted. All clients know we will be using Just In Time (JIT) management processes, waiting until the last possible moment in early 2019 to implement and then doing the absolute bare minimum to comply with the least possible extra client cost, ideally zero.
All have been offerred the option of going to Xero, QBO or Clearbooks instead of this JIT approach. Out of around 50 affected VAT clients, so far 0 have chosen to move to these systems.
"MTD" seems to be a sticking plaster covering general development of systems (the bank interest etc is a good thing, but the in year PAYE dynamic coding was a complete shambles, as HMRC have now admitted)
However "real" MTD for business, ie the discredited quarterly reporting of data feeding into tax returns which is simply not going to happen.
I don't know why HMRC keep banging on about that little fantasy. It was savaged in the house of common and house or lords select committees and roundly rejected.
The only fig leaf they have left is VAT, and all that is is a different FILING system, the data processing and bookkeeping systems are unchanged, its just the final squirt of summarised data from your current accounting system to HMRC must go through new 3rd party software as opposed to keying a few lines. Nothing else changes.
HMRC's job is to collect tax, not act as a fan boy for cloud software products.
"HMRC's job is to collect tax, not act as a fan boy for cloud software products."
HMRC's job should be to collect the right amount of tax according to the law, not to collect the tax as calculated by software which has not been shown to produce answers in line with tax law in 100% of cases.
HMRC urgent actions required.
Publicise what you are doing and the changes that impact on your customers (taxpayers)!
HMRC’s suggestions for preparing clients are:........
.......
Inform clients about MTD and their responsibilities to keep digital records.
........
Make sure the client has accessed their business tax account.
Sorry, HMRC. That's your job.
Most of my clients don't want to access their digital tax account, they want me to do it.
They know instinctively that any increase in direct access with HMRC results in a tenfold loss of time to do their livlihood productive work.
Well I'm afraid what you say about "agents' service accounts" completely bamboozles me as it does not reflect the reality I see every day when I log in to HMRC. I am set up with HMRC as a tax agent. I log in, and see the top menu of the various taxes, e.g. VAT, PAYE, corporation tax, etc. I can drill down and see all the clients I am authorised to act for in respect of that particular tax. I can drill down again to the client level. At no point do I need to know a client's Government Gateway details - indeed I know that neither myself nor the client has these gateway details in 99% of the cases as they are not needed. It all works very well and no grumbles. So which bit, if any, is changing under MTD? Do I not already have an agent services account even though nowhere is it called that?
You beat me to it Patrick...though mine does say "Agent Services" in white writing on a black background at the top of the dashboard page.
You're right. When I look at the page it does say "Agent Services" at the top. I suppose what is confusing me is that the author seems to be implying that "Agent Services" are something new. I've been using them ever since I went back into full time practice, say 6 years ago, and I've always assumed that every accountant in practice would also be using them too. There is no practical alternative for managing clients' tax affairs. As far as I am concerned "Well done HMRC". Certainly clients don't want to get involved in this area . They only sit up and realise how the system works so well for tax agents when for some reason or other they need a copy of they Government gateway and I have to tell them they have to go through the long winded application process as I don't have nor have ever needed to have their individual gateway codes.
I don't think the author has been particularly clear on how to gain access to the 'new' agent services portal. If she meant the old portal that most of us have been using for at least a decade then that needs to be made clear. Hopefully she will clarify what she means in due course.
You beat me to it Patrick...though mine does say "Agent Services" in white writing on a black background at the top of the dashboard page.
"Login to any of your current gateways that you use for clients (Note this is the gateway used to manage your clients’ accounts and not own business tax account)."
So you mean the agent services page at www.tax.service.gov.uk/agent/dashboard? If so, I cannot see any reference to the new Agent Services account. Do I need to enrol for more services? I don't use any other account to deal with my clients - everything, including VAT filing, goes through this one portal...I am sure that I am not unique in this am I?
Yes I Agree I don't understand this either. No such reference to the agent services account. More guidance on this would be helpful please.
Yes I Agree I don't understand this either. No such reference to the agent services account. More guidance on this would be helpful please.
Once you have set up the (new) Agent Services Account you need to use a different weblink to access it.
I use the following link for the current HMRC agent account:
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/gg/sign-in?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fonline....
If you use the same link above and use your newly created username and password then you will see a blank agent account that looks and feels exactly like the old account, but with now clients in it.
However, if you use the link below, with the new ASA account login details then it logs you into an entirely different looking platform. You can then transfer/link your existing clients en-mass to the new account. The latter is just for use for MTD. I have not done this linking yet as not sure how it will affect me on the old gateway.
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/gg/sign-in?continue=%2Fagent-subscription...
What I do not know is when I take on a new client do I add them through the old agent account or through the new (MTD only) ASA account? Does it make any different which one I add my client to? Are they linked both ways?
Ah, I'll try that next. I think there may also be a "cookie" issue if one logs out of old gateway and then logs on to new gateway.
Doesn't work properly.
I have the account. From the home page, no clients showing.
'link your existing client authorisations to this account'- when I use this, it says:
This ID is already connected to your account
BUT no clients show up, nothing.
I know I have linked my old ID to this new ASA, but it doesn't display anything on the front account page except 'get client auth' or 'link blah blah'. Despite linking my old account to it.
Guess I should phone the 'helpline' and see if they can fix the issue.
It's badly written and keeps flipping back to the link page after the first one rather than the main page so you can't get back to the main page...
I won't be wasting any time on it until a definite start date and compatible software packages are announced. Hopefully the pilots will fail and they will scrap the idea. It will just mean a lot more work for no real benefit.
Agent Services Account
For those still unclear how to set up their NEW agent services account (in order to use MTD) the official instructions are here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-an-hmrc-agent-services-account
As you can see you will need your OLD/CURRENT gateway details in order to set it up.
Whilst I do agree that HMRC should be doing more to inform our clients and unrepresented businesses that doesn’t prevent us from helping our clients to remain compliant.
If anyone wants to be proactive then I’m happy to share the FAQ webinar that we used for our clients and others. It’s a few years old but PM me for the link.
Della - Thank you, a bit of clarity at last. So those of us who have the OLD Agent Services, i.e. the majority of the practicing accountants in the UK, now have to go through another long winded process to set up the NEW Agent Services. Why on earth can't HMRC simply transfer everything across from OLD to NEW for us?
It's Friday afternoon, it's warm and sunny. I for one am off to lunch and then the pub. I'll look at this when I'm in in the morning.
Thank you Della. In fact setting up the new agent services account was incredibly easy - taking less than 5 minutes...however, when logging in I get a lovely page asking me to either "Ask a client to authorise you" or "Link your existing client authorisations to this account". The latter seemed the most obvious, so I click on the link where I am told that I will need: "each of the agent Government Gateway IDs used by your business for Self Assessment or VAT clients, your agent services account number and your business's tax reference (sometimes called a UTR)".
All well and good - I have one government gateway ID for all taxes, and presumably the "agent services account numbers" are the agent ID numbers?
I hit the big green "Start Now" button to be greeted by "This ID is already connected to your account. If you need to add another agent Government Gateway ID, sign out and repeat the process."
OK so all my clients are in my new login...wow that was easy (I foolishly think). So I login with my new user ID and password and there are no clients there using the old portal (though it still lets me login and still has my name etc).
So I am now sat with the old portal (thankfully my old username and password means that I have not lost access to my clients on here) and wondering what I have done wrong and, moreover, who should I contact about this?
I am an early adopter of pretty much any technology that is out there. I have built websites and, as a result, I am probably pretty geeky. If this has foxed me, there is little hope for the average accountant/adviser who is less technically astute. There needs to be much better information available on what needs to be done and I think that HMRC needs to be at the forefront of this if they want agents to use it.
Oh dear! This just confirms my worst fears. Doesn't HMRC realise that accountants are not (usually) software geeks and we really need something simple that just does what it says on the box . Nor do small firms have the time to spend hours on this. Could not one of the big firms that has some spare staff capacity get one of their staff to work through it all, set everything down in an idiot's guide, and then donate the guide gratis to the rest of the profession?
Oh dear! This just confirms my worst fears. Doesn't HMRC realise that accountants are not (usually) software geeks and we really need something simple that just does what it says on the box . Nor do small firms have the time to spend hours on this. Could not one of the big firms that has some spare staff capacity get one of their staff to work through it all, set everything down in an idiot's guide, and then donate the guide gratis to the rest of the profession?
It is my understanding that you are required to purchase third party software that allows you to view your clients in the ASA. May not be as good as the existing portal.
I agree !! "So I am now sat with the old portal (thankfully my old username and password means that I have not lost access to my clients on here) and wondering what I have done wrong and, moreover, who should I contact about this?"
I, too, foolishly thought that my old clients would be in the new login. So, here is what I discovered:
1 - your old login ID at the old URL (website address) still has the same services as before and all your clients are still there
2 - your NEW ASA login ID at the OLD URL will look like your existing portal but have no clients in it
3 - your NEW ASA login ID at the NEW URL will show you the new ASA portal, but there are no clients in it.
What you now need to do is add clients to the new portal. Like you, I thought that i could bring them over en masse via "Link your existing client authorisations to this account", but all this does (counter-intuitively) is link your new ASA ID to your old Govt Gateway ID (which you already did as part of the process of creating the new ASA ID). If you have more than one old Govt Gateway ID, you need to use this link to add each of them to the single, new ASA ID (why doesn't it say that, then?!!) but if, like you, there is only one GG ID, then this link is of no use to you. Instead, you appear to need to add each client individually, using the "Ask a client to authorise you" link (whether or not they are already a 64-8 registered client on the old portal), but that requires the client to have already set themselves up for MTD. That is where i gave up. None are set up for MTD because they need me to do that for them.
Still, this all makes RTI look like a dream in comparison!
When will HMRC be informing businesses? There are many businesses out there that prepare their own VAT returns etc and they haven't had any comminucation from HMRC, yet. I spoke to a client about it recently and they were completely unaware!
"You will need the client’s email address and not the agent’s address for GDPR purposes. "
OK, but what about clients who don't have email addresses? There are a few out there.
"You will need the client’s email address and not the agent’s address for GDPR purposes. "
OK, but what about clients who don't have email addresses? There are a few out there.
I don't know if I'm being dense or not but it says :-
"You will be given a new gateway ID for your new client services (admin) account. Make a note of your new user ID, gateway agent ID and account number!"
I acquired a new gateway ID etc and account number earlier this year when I had to create a Trust and Estate record for my late father. However, I cannot work out how to do the next stage as per Della's article:-
"You must then:
Input your existing (old) gateway credentials.
Input your new agent services account information and agent’s UTR.
Repeat for every separate gateway id and password if you have more than one."
I can't find the appropriate page/boxes to do that. I think a call to HMRC online helpdesk is required however, the response at present is "We are VERY at the moment..........."
Anyone else having issues? I'm not a technophobe and have run IT systems in various places of work and I am familiar with many different software packages.
I don't know if I'm being dense or not but it says :-
"You will be given a new gateway ID for your new client services (admin) account. Make a note of your new user ID, gateway agent ID and account number!"
I acquired a new gateway ID etc and account number earlier this year when I had to create a Trust and Estate record for my late father. However, I cannot work out how to do the next stage as per Della's article:-
"You must then:
Input your existing (old) gateway credentials.
Input your new agent services account information and agent’s UTR.
Repeat for every separate gateway id and password if you have more than one."
I can't find the appropriate page/boxes to do that. I think a call to HMRC online helpdesk is required however, the response at present is "We are VERY at the moment..........."
Anyone else having issues? I'm not a technophobe and have run IT systems in various places of work and I am familiar with many different software packages.
It's not your fault, Patricia. HMRC are clueless! I also called HMRC's online helpdesk today and they told me that help on the Agents Service Account (ASA) was handled by the Agents Dedicated Line (ADL), so I called them and they knew nothing about it but, after some back and forth, they kindly put me through to another team who were as helpful as they could be, but their knowledge was scant (to say the least). The person I spoke to knew no more than was printed on the piece of paper in front of her, but she asked her specialist supervisor ("who handles all of these requests") and he called me back after his lunch. Very nice chap, but again his knowledge was limited.
None of them have been properly trained in how the system works. The best that any of them know is what they expect to happen in ideal circumstances. If you have anything out of the ordinary, they are lost. For example, i got timed out when i first set up my ASA (as I had to take a phone call) and when i logged back in again, it set me up with a SECOND Agent ID! It should have stopped me when i input my old GG ID and told me that a new ASA already existed for that GG ID, but it carried on and set me up again. It's a total Horlicks of a system.
It took me over two hours of reading their appalling web site and watching interminable videos (instead of boring videos, why can't they just write the instructions down, so we can read it quickly?) until I finally seem to have created an ASA for myself.
Success, I thought, but no.....Once you have an ASA, you cannot add a new client to it until the client has created their own MTD account. I told my friendly HMRC 'MTD expert' that my clients are too busy to do their own tax admin and that is what they pay me for, so how can I create an account for them? Apparently, I can't. I give up.
If HMRC insist that they will not accept VAT returns outside the MTD system from next April, I suspect that a few hundred thousand accountants will all try to set themselves up at once and most will get hopelessly lost. HMRC will then either have to admit defeat and allow VAT filing by the existing portal or accept that millions of tax returns won't get filed. OR they can sort their systems out properly and make signing up for MTD a simple process, starting with a single click from within the existing HMRC GG portal.
Thank you Charlie Carne, I read your response with hope until I reached the penultimate paragraph that mentions that the client has to create their own MTD account. My reaction... "you're kidding". I've got to explain to my clients, who pay me to prepare their VAT returns and submit them, that they have to create their own MTD account? Oh dear!!!!!!!
That is what I was told by the HMRC 'MTD expert' on the ADL yesterday on the phone, but I'm now not so sure. I've given up trying to work it all out and I really can't see why HMRC cannot publish a simple flowchart of all of the steps required.
You are not alone Della . But at least you stuck it out. Listening to the same old crap , I decided to switch off. More dysfunctional than disjointed.
As for Rebecca's comments - that HMRC shouldn't be poodles to software companies , we all know that the Revenue has lost the plot since the head MTD honcho within the Govt. moved to a major software company.
So can we please all stop pretending.
So, it's quiet clear from Charlie Carne's reply on 8th Jun 2018 at 16:55 that the NEW ASA account is just for MTD work, which is why it has no current clients in it, even once it has been linked to the OLD government gateway (where our list of SA, CT, VAT etc clients are all still shown, goodness after the two have been linked).
I know it's a silly comment, but why did HMRC decide to create two linked account for agents. Could they not just have added another button/option to the OLD government gateway account for the MTD services of those clients that will need this! That would save a lot of time and confusion.
Similarly, why cannot we request assess to a clients' MTD account like we can now (either through the '1 month' paper 64-8 process or online)?
It's a total joke:
Agree how they will transfer digital information to their accountant.
Make sure the client has accessed their business tax account.
Clients don't know or care about accessing their 'business tax account'. I've mentioned it to many of my clients who either don't understand it or have no interest.
I have set up my agent services account but it doesn't do anything or go anywhere, and there are no clear instructions on how to go about accessing my existing clients on it.
I currently use HMRC VAT reporting on my existing HMRC access, as most of my clients don't use accounting software at all- they have no interest or need for it. No chance of them paying for software or using it, and I'm not paid to force them to do something they don't want to do.
HMRC live in cloud cuckoo land if they think this is going to work anything like they think it is- they assume clients WANT to use digital AND can get it right - neither of which is remotely true.
I wonder when the first case will come up of a client attempting to file a paper 'VAT Return' after April 2019 as they have no other way of doing it, then HMRC rejecting it and charging late filing penalties....
Thanks Della -a helpful (if worrying) article. I have a couple of clients who are VAT registered sole traders/partnerships who I believe should be exempt from MTDVAT because of age and rural location (poor digital access etc). We currently file their VAT returns from their book keeping via the Gateway.
How do we apply for exemption for them?
We do exactly the same for dozens of clients. I've been told that as far as HMRC are concerned these clients have been filing digital VAT returns for several years therefore they are not digitally excluded. We're going to have a battle on our hands because whilst agents filing via GOV.UK is a relatively easy work around, digitising all transactions is not.
Thanks Kevin - Agreed. We have taken the VT route and will file through TaxCalc but some of our Agricultural or "out in the sticks" bods haven't got computers and very little in the way of broadband signal - so it is going to get interesting if we can exclude them somehow.
Thanks for the update, Kevin. HMRC have not yet released details of how to claim a digital exemption.
Rebecca Cave has a little more info from the CIOT webinar here
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tax/hmrc-policy/mtd-ciot-webinar-explain...
Clients are expected to use their own emails and not the agent’s so it could be interesting for those who have delegated to agents so far. If the agent has been using their own account rather than the client’s then it should be clearer however I know many accountants and bookkeepers who use the client’s gateway to file.
I suspect this is the reason why HMRC have over-estimated the number of businesses who file their own VAT return. I know our practice has been as guilty as this as others. The resent 2SV for businesses now mean more agents file using their own user ID because this does not require 2SV. It would be interesting to see any stats.I know many accountants and bookkeepers who use the client’s gateway to file.
I have always insisted that clients authorise me through HMRC's online process. I have never come across an accountant who does not do it this way, but it seems there are some. It just seems wrong to me to use a client's gateway credentials when it is so easy to do it online for ourselves.
So what is "2SV"?
We setup most of our clients online VAT for them and appointed ourselves as agents but even then some staff used the client's user ID.
2SV - 2-step verification. The process of HMRC sending a 6-digit access code to the phone number allocated to the user ID.