Light touch confirmed for August VAT return deadline

Businesses that missed the deadline for signing up to MTD for VAT and were unable to file their VAT return using MTD software will not be penalised as long as they filed the VAT return on time using the old HMRC portal.

HMRC’s MTD for business customer readiness and external stakeholder team sent a statement to agents to this effect but added: ‘Although we will not penalise them they will receive a letter from us telling them that they missed the deadline and asking them to take action.’ An HMRC press spokesperson confirmed this was because of the department’s ‘longstanding commitment to have a soft landing for businesses during the first year’.

Taxpayers that submitted returns using MTD for VAT will not receive a confirmation email from HMRC. The department has updated its MTD for VAT signing-up guidance to state that the business’s...