Controversial ‘Making Tax Digital’ scheme further delayed

The UK government’s “Making Tax Digital” initiative has been diluted and delayed – and could be on the shelf for a further couple of years, it has been confirmed.

And while the farming industry might have allowed itself a collective sigh of relief when the controversial proposals were dropped from the Finance Bill earlier in the year, this week’s announcement that it would have an even greater breathing space was positively welcomed.

Some uncertainty does still hang over the long term future of the plans to make quarterly, on-line tax returns mandatory – which were initially to have been imposed on the vast majority of farming businesses from next April.

The measures, which had been termed “ill-considered and ill-suited to the farming industry”, are still likely to go ahead, according to NFUS finance director, Colin Gordon but on a different timescale.

He said that initially they would only cover VAT from April 2019 in the government’s revised roadmap – with other taxes delayed until at least April 2020, meaning digital tax records do not have to be kept until at least April 2020.

“Those above the VAT threshold (annual turnover of over £85,000) will still have to report these returns quarterly on-line from April 2019, so that no business will need to provide information to HMRC more frequently than they do now,” said Gordon.

He said that NFU Scotland had argued with the Treasury Select Committee, that the original timetable was “rushed and unworkable” adding that the Treasury said they had “listened to concerns raised by parliamentarians, in particular the Treasury Select Committee, businesses and professional bodies about the pace of change”.