'There's always time for Making Tax Digital': How to get your clients ready for the deadline
Check out our new video to find out the key steps you should take in helping your clients get ready for MTD this April
Next up in our Making Tax Digital video series with Sage, we discuss how exactly you can effectively prepare your clients for the big changes.
Who actually needs to be ready for MTD by 1 April this year? Do you know if your business is included in this category?
VAT-registered businesses with a turnover about £85,000 can no longer file their VAT returns manually through the HMRC gateway. Instead they must start using functionally compatible software, which basically means they must start submitting their tax returns digitally.
However, be aware that there are some exceptions to the rule, including group VAT-registered businesses, not-for-profit organisations, trusts and businesses on an annual VAT scheme, who will be deferred until October 2019.
So what if your clients haven’t really started preparing yet. While some clients will have been getting ready for MTD for a while, every business operates differently and some will not have.
Downing said: “There’s always time for MTD”
Let’s be honest, businesses will be doing their first MTD VAT return for April, May, June and filing it at the end of July.
“To those accountancy firms and businesses who may feel they’re not ready – there’s still time.”
What are the key steps accountants need to go through to get their clients ready for MTD?
- Review the impact
- Understand the process – how they do their accounting and bookkeeping and what are the opportunities for efficiency?
- Adopt early – though MTD returns may not be filed until end of July, we need to understand it’s going to be a very busy period.
- Get support – business owners will be leaning on their accountants for advice and support.
Follow Accountancy Age and Sage in their video collaboration helping you to prepare and showing you how to guide your clients through the MTD process. Experts from Sage and HMRC give advice and practical suggestions to support you in getting the most out of MTD.
Resources & Whitepapers
Accounting Software The power of customisation in accounting systems
Find out what an Agent Services Account is and why you need one to guide your clients through MTD.
And discover what the future holds. Once the April deadline passes, what’s next for MTD? How can you and your clients benefit from it?
Don’t miss out on any of our Getting to the Bottom of Making Tax Digital series.
