SECTOR FOCUS: LEGAL & FINANCE SECTOR FOCUS
THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE REGION’S LEADING SECTORS
Making tax digital – what you need to know
By DALE SIMPSON, partner at Thomas Westcott Chartered Accountants and Chair of the South West region for the Chartered Institute of Tax Advisers
While not creating huge headlines, there’s a good chance that by now you will have heard of HMRC’s new tax regime, called Making Tax Digital (MTD). And, if you haven’t, you need to
start thinking about it, as it launches in less than a year and will eventually impact all UK businesses, landlords and taxpayers. Some people have described
MTD as “the most significant change to the UK’s taxation system in recent years”. I would go further, I believe it’s
the biggest shake up of our taxation system in a generation!
So, what is MTD and how will it
affect you? In essence, MTD brings UK
businesses’ tax affairs into the digital age, primarily via online filing of quarterly updates and a year-end statement to replace the current annual tax return. For individual taxpayers they will each have a digital tax account which will be pre-populated by HMRC and third parties. This will include payroll details; interest receipts from banks or building societies and dividends from companies. Once fully implemented there
will be no more self-assessment tax returns (apart from exceptional
circumstances). Businesses and their accountants will need to invest in specialist software, together with new accounting systems. As ever with such sweeping changes there will be bumps; already HMRC has announced that whilst MTD launches in April 2018, smaller businesses with turnovers beneath VAT thresholds (£85,000) have another year to prepare. Right now the concern is that
businesses, already disrupted due to factors like Brexit, will hunker down and focus on their day to day operations rather than face MTD’s implementation – a national trade
organisation’s survey found 65 per cent of SMEs did not currently use software to manage their accounts, making them poorly-prepared for MTD. Thomas Westcott are fully aware
of the problems their clients will be facing to comply with MTD and are providing a range of cost effective services. These include helping clients choose and implement MTD compliant software, with training for its use, through to a full service of recording transactional details and submitting quarterly returns for those who find themselves challenged by the requirements of MTD.
The team at Bishop Fleming celebrate the milestone anniversary
Birthday celebration for Bishop Fleming
Top 40 accountants Bishop Fleming are celebrating ten successful years at Stratus House on the Exeter Business Park. The firm, which started in 1919,
moved from Barnfield Crescent in the City Centre to become a neighbour of the MET office in Easter 2007. Ten years on, partners and staff
are marking this milestone with a few well-known brands of Easter egg. Partner in charge of the Exeter
office, James Finnegan, commented: "Bishop Fleming's decision to move to Stratus House was absolutely the right one, as it
22 Chamber Profile May/June 2017
has allowed the firm to expand at a rapid rate. This has been transformative in that it has helped to make Bishop Fleming one of the fastest growing firms of accountants in the country." Last year saw the firm's fee
income rise to a record £19.9m, following organic growth of 13.6%. Mr Finnegan said: "The office
space we have on the Exeter Business Park has allowed us to increase our recruitment of people and the range of services we offer, including corporate finance, tax, probate and our Accounting Solutions package ahead of Making Tax Digital."
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