Originally written by Stephanie Spicer on Small Business
Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT came into force in the UK on 1st April 2019, but while the deadline may have come and gone, many businesses and accountants affected by the new rules are still trying to sort the fact from the fiction. Many are still unsure as to what they need to do to ensure that they are HMRC compliant, and crucially, what will happen if they fail to comply with the new rules.
MTD for VAT is the first major phase in the government’s overall initiative to make tax digital, which is designed to make it easier for businesses to keep on top of their day to day accounting. The legislation is intended to make tax administration more effective, efficient and easier for taxpayers by integrating digital record-keeping and enabling businesses to generate and send updates directly from their chosen accounting software to HMRC.
While the government’s intention is to bring the days of foraging for receipts and painstakingly checking through spreadsheets or files for accuracy to an end, many small businesses were quite happy with the status quo, and are reluctant to embrace this move towards digital.
We understand that change can