Progress with Making Tax Digital

The ATT has made a submission to the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee Inquiry into progress with Making Tax Digital (MTD). 

The Inquiry is reviewing:

• The original aims of MTD
• Progress made prior to the postponement announced in December 2022
• The realism of the revised plans

 Now that the Committee has published all written evidence submitted, we are please to share the ATT's submission. Our key points were:

• To date MTD has achieved very few of its stated goals.
• Implementation of MTD for VAT in late 2022 is the only achievement of the programme to date, albeit three years later than planned.
• Feedback from our members of working with MTD for VAT is much less positive than HMRC's reports in terms of user experiences and economic benefits.
• The deferral of MTD for Income Tax Self-Assessment was welcome, but we remain concerned about the obstacles to its implementation in the proposed timescale.
• HMRC appear to be capitalising on the additional time available to work with stakeholders to resolve remaining issues, which is to be commended.
• We welcome digitalisation as part of a modern tax system, but are not convinced MTD can be delivered as planned, or that it will benefit many taxpayers.