Making Tax Digital – Get Your Facts Straight

With over 7 million Google search results alone for Making Tax Digital, how can accountants cut through the noise and separate fact from fiction? Our resident MTD expert Mark Purdue dispels the top three myths…

Last month, I attended the Accountex tradeshow in London, a huge event attended by over 7,000 accountants in practice, and MTD was the buzzword throughout the two days.

But, although there were countless credible talks on digital transformation, I heard a few myths that I want to set straight:

Myth: You cannot use spreadsheets, you need bookkeeping software.
Fact: You do need software to submit an update, but not for record-keeping.

Myth: Agents cannot take part in the MTD Pilot.
Fact: Provided their MTD software supplier is part of the MTD Pilot, then agents can take part. At the moment the pilot is limited to those who HMRC chooses to enrol on a phased basis.

Myth: Software must be “approved by HMRC”.
Fact: HMRC lists commercial software suppliers on their website, based on the software’s functional capability – but they do not approve software.

What I believe: One of the key roles of software providers is education – not just providing the software agents need to manage the MTD process.

What I don’t believe: The responsibility of training and educating business owners lies solely with HMRC – it’s up to all of us to take ownership.

I want to arm you with the most up-to-date information on Making Tax Digital to form the basis of conversations with your staff and clients, and help you and them make informed decisions, as you all prepare for MTD.

Feel free to ask me a question by commenting below, or tweet me at @MarkPurdueTax.

Blog originally published 14th June 2017