FEATURE
ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES
Five things Making Tax Digital
business owners need to know ahead of
By Simon Shaw (pictured), Director at Duncan & Toplis
A recurring theme in 2018 was Making Tax Digital (MTD). As we get ever closer to the April start date, businesses need to ensure they have plans in place ready to make the digital switch. From April 2019, every
VAT-registered business in the UK which is trading over the VAT threshold will have to keep their records digitally and send returns using MTD-compatible software. There’s plenty of information out there but it’s reported
that 60,000 VAT-registered businesses in the East Midlands could be unprepared for this major change. If you feel your business isn’t ready or if you’re daunted by the move to digital, here are five things you should know.
1. ASSESS THE IMPACT The first thing every business needs to do is find out if they need to make the switch. Not all businesses need to be ready for Making Tax Digital in April, but there are so many benefits to digital accounting that it’s worth converting in most other cases. In April 2019, MTD will apply to VAT- registered businesses with a turnover higher than £85,000, so if that’s your business, it’s especially important to act now.
Before you make any changes, you should work out how
it will impact the way you work, how much it will cost, and what additional practices you’ll need to adopt. At this stage it’s worth seeking professional advice to make sure you’re on the right track towards becoming compliant.
50 business network February 2019
3. SORT YOUR SOFTWARE Switching to cloud accountancy before the changes come into force is the simplest way to get your business ready, so the best thing to work out at this stage is what cloud-
2. IS YOUR CURRENT PROCESS WORKING? As with any new regulation, MTD is a great opportunity to assess your internal processes and establish a new system that really suits your business. MTD will include filing quarterly VAT returns online and maintaining accurate and up-to-date financial information throughout the trading year. This is an opportunity to update and improve the way you work, so it’s worth training your team to get the entire business up to speed on the changes and nominating an MTD champion so at least one person is heading up internal processes.
Switch your software before the changes come into force
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