Making Tax Digital is just the start

One in four SMEs missed HMRC’s first Making Tax Digital (MTD) deadline on August 7, including potentially thousands of Lancashire businesses.

Fortunately, no fines will be issued this time around. Whilst leniency by HMRC is a welcome relief, it doesn’t help those struggling to integrate a new system into their financial procedures.

At Champion Accountants, our proactive approach means that many of our clients are fully embracing digital software, such as Xero or Sage, but we’ve always been concerned that some businesses are likely to be left behind in the digital tax revolution.

We now know that a quarter of SMEs – already under pressure in a difficult financial and political climate – have indeed struggled to keep up with HMRC’s ambitions to lead the way in digital tax.

Our first piece of advice is to switch immediately to MTD-compatible software. By 2021, the use of digital reporting could become mandatory across Income Tax and Corporation Tax, as HMRC drives forward further digital developments to allow a real time view of your tax affairs.

As online accounting experts, we support every clients’ transition onto a MTD-compliant platform and match you with the right software that delivers on your business wants and needs, both now and in the future.

Gaining this real time overview of your finances ensures that you keep on top of what you owe in terms of your VAT and tax liabilities, whilst streamlining your entire finance and admin function, which can prove invaluable. Our expert advisers can also work collaboratively to analyse the data and provide an outsourced FD function at a fraction of the cost of hiring.

If you haven’t done so already, the time is now to embrace Making Tax Digital. Whilst the roll out for VAT was fraught with delays, it has become legislation, and despite the additional time allowed, thousands of SMEs still weren’t prepared.

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