HMRC asks accounting firms for volunteer clients for Making Tax Digital pilot

The pilot is set to begin in April 2018, with a small number of selected businesses submitting their VAT returns via the new system. This is a year before the programme is rolled out to businesses with a turnover above the VAT threshold, when they will be required to start keeping digital VAT records. The full programme rollout will not happen until 2020.

Jonathan Walton, managing director of Whitley Stimpson Ltd, one of the largest independent accountancy practices in the area with offices in Banbury, Bicester, High Wycombe and Witney said: “In spite of HMRC’s assurances, concerns remain about whether the software capabilities will exist for businesses to be able to file their VAT returns in the Making Tax Digital programme. This willmean a large change for all businesses, so it’s incredibly important to get it right.

“We work in partnership with our clients to keep them informed at every stage of their growth and we are involved in helping businesses in our area to adapt or introduce systems to cope with this change.

“Over the coming weeks we will be holding three breakfast seminars to help prepare local businesses to move online to improve efficiency, boost profitability and make the transition with these changes in digital tax returns painless.”

Seminars will be held on 14th March at A Day in the Country in Aynho and on 22nd March at The Oak Room, Old Town Hall in High Wycombe. For further information or to book onto any of these free of charge events please visit: www.whitleystimpson.co.uk/events