Making Tax Digital - useful links and toolkits
We've found some useful guides and toolkits for small businesses to help you go digital with your VAT
14 March 2019
From this April your VAT returns to HMRC will have to meet the new legislation, which will see all company tax returns filed digitally.
Source: YourDMS.net
If you manage your financial returns yourself you may need some help to comply with the new HMRC laws, which require that VAT records are now kept and sumbitted digitally using Making Tax Digital-compatible software. This will have implications for any business with a turnover exceeding the VAT threshold, which is £85,000 at the time of this publication.
If you are in any doubt about what to do you should seek the advice of a qualified accountant or tax specialist. In his Spring Statement, the Chancellor confirmed that the government will take "a light touch approach to penalties in the first year of implementation". In a statement published alongside the speech, it said "where businesses are doing their best to comply, no filing or record keeping penalties will be issued".
Our top 5 places to go for useful information and guidance:
The .gov.uk website has lots of information, self-help videos and webinars, including how to sign up - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/help-and-support-for-making-tax-digital
Enterprise Nation has linked with online accounting firm Xero to deliver a series of free workshops around the country, including one in London on the 23rd May. You can find details here under the EVENTS filter.
Xero have further useful FAQs on their website - https://www.xero.com/uk/resources/making-tax-digital/small-business-resources/
Sage, the accounting software specialists have a FREE Guide - https://www.sage.com/en-gb/blog/making-tax-digital-businesses/
Finally, there will very likely be free events near you with many banks and accountancy firms taking the lead, even if you are not one of their customers. You can find many of these on Eventbrite, where you can create a free account and register to attend.