Are you one of the 40%?

21/09/2018

A recent survey by the ICAEW has disclosed that over 40% of businesses which are imminently to be affected by the Making Tax Digital legislation for VAT are not yet aware of the Inland Revenue’s initiative, despite the deadline for dealing with the changes being from April 2019. Of the 60% of businesses that are aware of the new rules 20% are quoted as having made no preparations to enable compliance.

For those in blissful ignorance the new rules apply to all businesses with a turnover in a rolling 12 month period ending on or after 31 March 2019 of over £85,000 and, in summary, require each such business to maintain its records on a digital accounts package giving direct access to HMRC for the submission of VAT returns. It has been announced that relevant taxpayers will no longer be able to submit their returns through the current portal although registered businesses below the turnover threshold will still enjoy that option.

Having spent the last two years preparing our clients for this change we will be happy to assist anyone who has not been kept abreast of the forthcoming upheaval.