Making Tax Digital – as at 15.03.17

Following the Budget Proposals of 8 March 2017, there has been some respite.

As ever, it’s not what was said in Parliament in the Budget Speech, but the “small print” that flows out
afterwards.

Registration - the timetable has been amended as to:

(*) for ALL income that has not been taxed at source.  This means that a person with sole trader turnover (of
£45,000), and Rental Income – before deductions (of £40,000) would be liable a year earlier.

Digital Tax Account – sadly, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will not allow “agents”
(accountants, tax advisers) to be able to access this.  You are strongly recommended to “register” (look at
HMRC’s website) and look at your own Tax Account in the next few weeks, please, and advise us.  We are told
that if there are any errors on it, only the third-party who provided the information to HMRC will be allowed to
alter errors.  That sounds like a problem.

Record Keeping – as all our Practice’s clients have previously been issued with free ABC Accounts Books to
keep their records in a format that is quick and easy to process into a set of Financial Accounts.  This will still
continue, as Financial Accounts will still be needed for Management Purposes and then Finance Purposes – but
lastly for the Tax Man.  It is insisted by HMRC that, as they believe, a huge volume of self-employed use
smartphones, that “all they have to do is upload their invoices on their smartphones”.  Each quarter, the data will
be “uploaded” to HMRC by “simply pushing a button”.  Our Accountancy Practice’s App: MLevinABC does
have some facility for this, and the developers are constantly upgrading this software.  How it will work when
Making Tax Digital becomes compulsory is uncertain.  Our Practice has also had the ABC Accounts Book
“computerised”.  The link is: http://abcaccounting.codingcreed.co.uk.

The temporary log in to trial it is (mine) which is: http://abcaccounting.codingcreed.co.uk Again you will need
your user name.  Until you have registered, you may use mine which is Martin. (Uppercase M) The password is
abc (all lower case). Then click on -> Accounting on the side menu and you can access all the features.  Try it,
and let us know. It’s just as well to run this alongside any existing book-keeping systems that you might have
(ABC Accounts Book, or suitably approved substitutes or even a spreadsheet).

 We have tried to make any transition as smooth, and painless, as possible.  We are all on a learning curve, and
despite the mantra that we have trotted out at meetings with HMRC, that “clients are traders and not book-
keepers”, we will all have to embrace the digital age.  The more that you can possibly adhere to their
impositions, the less you will incur avoidable accountancy fees, which are based upon time - as well as
expertise.  We are on your side and do not look to increase our fees to you, as we respect your limitations.
Keeping you and the taxman as strangers has been a fundamental function of our practice, and for your co-
operation and understanding, we will try to maintain that.