The e-petition relating to tax reporting for small businesses and the self-employed (calling on the government to ‘scrap plans forcing self-employed and small business to do 4 tax returns yearly’) was debated in the House of Commons on Monday, having attracted 110,000 signatures. During the debate, financial secretary to the Treasury David Gauke confirmed that the digitisation plans were to get rid of the current annual tax return, saying the current system ‘is a system designed for a world of paper and bookkeeping, in the literal sense, and it is not tenable in the 21st century’. However, he denied that businesses would need to file quarterly tax returns. He also confirmed that HMRC will begin a consultation process during spring 2016.
HMRC has published a document, Making tax digital: myth buster, which emphasises both that businesses will not need to file four quarterly tax returns a year, and that the plans will not include those who are digitally excluded. The subject of digital exclusion was brought up in the parliamentary debate, as internet speeds in parts of Northern Ireland are too low for businesses to rely on them as much as other parts of the UK. ‘The new digital accounts will integrate all the different information businesses already provide to HMRC into a simple, streamlined system,’ HMRC said. ‘Instead of one big, onerous tax return each year, once a quarter businesses can check that the information they are collecting digitally is correct, and simply click “send” to update HMRC.
‘There is no question of forcing those who cannot go digital to do so. Help will be available for businesses who struggle to use digital tools. People who genuinely can't use digital tools will be offered alternatives, like nominating someone else to update their information for them, or giving information by phone.’
For the full transcript of the parliamentary debate, see www.bit.ly/1K8sMso.
The e-petition relating to tax reporting for small businesses and the self-employed (calling on the government to ‘scrap plans forcing self-employed and small business to do 4 tax returns yearly’) was debated in the House of Commons on Monday, having attracted 110,000 signatures. During the debate, financial secretary to the Treasury David Gauke confirmed that the digitisation plans were to get rid of the current annual tax return, saying the current system ‘is a system designed for a world of paper and bookkeeping, in the literal sense, and it is not tenable in the 21st century’. However, he denied that businesses would need to file quarterly tax returns. He also confirmed that HMRC will begin a consultation process during spring 2016.
HMRC has published a document, Making tax digital: myth buster, which emphasises both that businesses will not need to file four quarterly tax returns a year, and that the plans will not include those who are digitally excluded. The subject of digital exclusion was brought up in the parliamentary debate, as internet speeds in parts of Northern Ireland are too low for businesses to rely on them as much as other parts of the UK. ‘The new digital accounts will integrate all the different information businesses already provide to HMRC into a simple, streamlined system,’ HMRC said. ‘Instead of one big, onerous tax return each year, once a quarter businesses can check that the information they are collecting digitally is correct, and simply click “send” to update HMRC.
‘There is no question of forcing those who cannot go digital to do so. Help will be available for businesses who struggle to use digital tools. People who genuinely can't use digital tools will be offered alternatives, like nominating someone else to update their information for them, or giving information by phone.’
For the full transcript of the parliamentary debate, see www.bit.ly/1K8sMso.
