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Making Tax Digital (MTD) – April 2019 Update

02/04/2019

Making Tax Digital – Further Update

We at HaeCooper have over the last year kept our clients from all walks of business aware of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) requirements. The introduction of MTD has, over time, been ‘watered down’ to MTD applying from 6 April 2019 for only VAT Returns, for VAT registered businesses, with the announced MTD for the filing of digital Tax Returns to be introduced at a later date(s).

HaesCooper’s main concern is that our VAT registered business clients have signed up for the appropriate accountancy software so that, from 6 April 2019, the digital VAT Returns can be completed with the least amount of time and hassle.

Most of our clients now have the appropriate computer software to deal with the MTD change. However, a business sector that we at HaesCooper have had some digital tax dealings with is the Farming sector – where the average age of the proprietor is 60 years and a considerable proportion (75%) still keep handwritten records!

As with HaesCooper’s other UK businesses, a cloud-based accountancy solution along with some upskilling training is not only the MTD answer for UK farmers but also provides useful financial information on the business’s income and costs.

New Making Tax Digital Guidelines for Business Owners

As previously explained in our MTD – 2019 update post, there are changes required to record keeping for the digital VAT Returns. A breakdown of these new guidelines is as follows;

Purchases must be digitally recorded showing the exclusive VAT amount.
Expenses that are not to be submitted on the VAT Return do not have to be digitally recorded (e.g. employee wages).
Minor items of expenditure may be excluded from individual digital recording if it can be shown that it is impossible or excessively difficult to make the digital record. HMRC have confirmed that this applies to employee costs and these can be digitally recorded as to the total value and total input VAT.

How HaesCooper Can Help

At HaesCooper, we’re here to help you find an accounting solution for digital records and filing digital VAT returns. We also provide training and an emergency helpline for those that prefer to do their own bookkeeping – please don’t hesitate to contact a member of our friendly team for more information or MTD migration advice.