Date posted: 9th Aug 2021
VAT registered business making taxable supplies above the £85,000 registration threshold have been complying with Making Tax Digital (MTD) since April 2019. All VAT registered businesses, regardless of their size will have to be MTD compliant from April 2022 unless qualifying for one of the very small number of exemption.
The next roll-out will be the introduction of MTD for income tax which is scheduled to start in April 2024 (a further 1 year delay as announced by HMRC in September 2021).
The obligation to keep records in a digital format and report information quarterly will apply to unincorporated businesses and property landlords with gross income in excess of £10,000 a year. Businesses operating MTD for VAT will already have MTD compliant accounting software but the extension of MTD to income tax will mean a major change for property rental businesses who are outside of the current rules.
There are a number of MTD compliant accounting software packages that you might wish to consider and we can of course advise you on the one that is most appropriate for your business.
Information in Quarterly MTD for Income Tax Reports
The precise details of what needs to be reported each quarter have yet to be finalised, but the categories of income and expenditure are likely to be the same as currently reported for self-assessment.
The accounting software will need to record income and expenditure into the following main categories:
- Turnover/gross rents
- Costs of goods sold
- Materials
- Wages and salaries of employees
- Sub-contractor costs
- Rent, rates, power, insurance
- Repairs and renewals
- Professional fees
- Telephone and other office costs
- Interest on bank and other loans
- Motor and travel expenses
Timing of MTD for Income Tax Reports
It is currently proposed that there will be four quarterly reports to HMRC followed by a finalisation return when end of year adjustments will be made. For a buy to let business that would mean quarterly returns made up to 5 July, 5 October, 5 January and 5 April. There would then be a MTD finalisation submission the following 31 January.
We will keep you updated when more information comes available.
