HMRC has announced that a planned series of consultations on Making Tax Digital will not now begin until after the European Union referendum on 23 June. The first consultation was originally expected to be released in early April.
Five consultations are to be released, covering:
- The scope of quarterly reporting
- Administration
- Software
- Penalties
- Payments
These were expected to be issued in stages up to the end of June, but it is likely that this delay will mean that they are likely to be released in one go with response deadlines in September if HMRC are to be able to test the new system by April 2017 as planned.
The Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) have called on HMRC to postpone the introduction of quarterly reporting to allow the views of interested parties to be submitted and considered fully.
Yvette Nunn from the ATT's Technical Steering Group said "we believe that it will be impossible for HMRC to adequately consider the views and constructive points raised in each consultation in just this six month timeframe. This will have a detrimental impact on the eventual design of the digital system and will impact on HMRC’s ability to have the whole digital system ready to use."
This delay is further bad news for the government's Making Tax Digital project following the open letter written earlier this monthh by the Chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Committee raising concerns about the implementation costs for businesses.
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Treasury Committee concerned over software costs of Making Tax Digital
