Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

FAQ’s

Who is affected?

All Self-employed and owners of rented proprty with a turnover of more than £10,000.

When will it start?

The planned start date is April 2023

What will change?

You will be required to submit details of income and expenses electronically every 3 months, with a final return due 10 months after the tax year end.

So, I will be filing 5 Tax Returns per tax year?

Yes.

When is the dealine for filing these income tax returns?

The deadline for this quarterly summary information is one month following the quarter-end.At the end of the tax year, there will then be a final declaration made to HMRC to include details of all other income and any accounting adjustments.

Are there any exceptions?

Only a very limited number based around broadband and computers: We think claims could be made because of your age, a disability, where you live or, you object to using computers on religious grounds – although expect resistance from HMRC to all of these.

Do I have to buy extra software?

If you are VAT registered the bookkeeping software you use for this should be also able to provide the information to file your quarterly Income Tax returns. It appears increasingly unlikely for other businesses there will any free filing software from HMRC for this purpose.

Can I use a spreadsheet?

Yes, provided you also use “bridging software”. This electronically takes the details from the spreadsheet and reports them to HMRC: They not accept any process that involves manually re-keying or ‘cut and pasting’ the figures from a spreadsheet.

I only own one buy to let property with 12 transactions per year – does it apply to me?

Yes if rent received is over £10,000 a year. You could use bookkeeping software, but we are hoping a simple software solution will be available in the next few months.

Will the Tax payment dates change?: HMRC say there are no plans to change the current tax payment dates, although, frankly, we expect there will be a move to quarterly payments for income tax once this system is established.