Chartered Accountants
Upcoming Changes With Filing Your VAT Returns
Making Tax Digital (MTD) was introduced to mandate that all business records must be maintained on a digital platform which can submit VAT returns automatically to HMRC.
The initial roll out of MTD was aimed at all businesses with turnover over the VAT threshold, currently £85,000, and over the last 2 years this has been successfully completed.
The next stage happens on Thursday 8 April 2021, when the legacy system for filing VAT returns is retired by HMRC.
This change will only effect businesses who are not registered for MTD and continue to use accounting software to complete and file their VAT returns.
Currently, accounting systems are able to file ‘non-MTD’ VAT returns automatically from within the software, however this will no longer be available from 8 April 2021. The return will instead need to be submitted manually by logging onto the HMRC Gateway and entering the VAT return figures there.
Scott Kennedy, Amber Accounting Manager based in our Forfar office, commented;
“The removal of the automatic filing of VAT returns from accounting software will inevitably lead to an increased risk of error when manually typing VAT figures into the HMRC system. Given that the change to MTD will be mandatory for all VAT registered businesses from April 2022, it is worth considering making the change now to ensure this risk can be managed.
“We have reviewed our clients’ systems and recommended MTD compliant solutions where this is appropriate. Making the change may not be something that some businesses want to do, but now would be a good time to consider changing, so that any issues can be dealt with before the mandatory deadline next year.”
Those businesses who are already registered for MTD should not see any difference in their VAT submission.
Should you have any queries relating to your books and records or compliance with MTD, please get in touch with our MTD Taxperts by emailing [email protected] or calling one of our offices.
Alternatively, if you are looking for support with your MTD submissions, please get in touch with our Amber Accounting team on [email protected] or call 01382 312140/01307 474274.
