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Making tax digital review published

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The government confirmed at Spring Budget 2020 its intention to publish an evaluation of the introduction of making tax digital (MTD) for VAT, along with related research. The resulting report, Making tax digital: An evaluation of the VAT service and update on the income tax service, was published on 19 March.

Among the report’s conclusions, HMRC says it can ‘draw significant confidence from its ability to deliver the required technical solutions needed for MTD’.

HMRC notes that its research indicates mandatory MTD has the potential to be a significant driver for the uptake of technology among businesses, and is considering seeking views from businesses on whether MTD has:

  • enabled them to better integrate their tax obligations with the wider running of their business; and
  • given them greater certainty around their financial situation by enabling them to have a more up-to-date view of their income and expenditure and, subsequently, their tax position.

The report confirms the pilot for the income tax service will be ‘much longer’ than the VAT pilot, which ran in full from October 2018 to March 2019. HMRC notes that the next stage, involving the extension of MTD to more businesses and other taxes, will be key to unlocking the full benefits of going digital.

In support of its conclusions, HMRC has published eight reports containing the results of research carried out into several aspects of MTD. These are:

  • Evaluating Making Tax Digital’s impact on record keeping behaviour and scope for error among small businesses;
  • Exploring complex businesses’ tax processes and readiness for Making Tax Digital;
  • Making Tax Digital: late submission penalty models;
  • Monitoring agents’ awareness of Making Tax Digital;
  • Monitoring business’ awareness of Making Tax Digital;
  • Exploring business Income Tax errors and how these can be addressed within software design;
  • Making Tax Digital: letter testing; and
  • Exploring views of business reporting errors to support Making Tax Digital upstream compliance.
Issue: 1481
Categories: News
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