The Treasury announced yesterday that there will be a significant
revamping of the proposals for MTD.
Businesses with income below the £85,000 VAT threshold, and
which previously were caught under the original proposals, will no longer have
to report online under the digital regime.
The Treasury have said they can join the digital revolution “at a pace
that is right for them” although tax reporting online may be brought in at some
point in the future.
The modified proposals see businesses above the VAT
threshold being required to keep online digital records from April 2019 – but only
for VAT reporting. For other taxes,
there is no requirement to keep or update digital records quarterly until “the
system has been shown to work well and no earlier than 2020”.
PetersonSims are delighted at this announcement and Gerry
Sims FCA said “At last, common sense has prevailed and the Government has
listened to the views of the accounting profession and recognised that MTD
would have been a significant time and monetary cost for business, just at the point
when they would be facing other economic challenges associated with Brexit ”.
The new legislation will form part of the new Finance Bill
which is expected to be introduced before Parliament’s summer recess.