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Tackling abuse

Taxation recently reported (News 17 November page 4) on Jim Harra’s letter to the Financial Times on Making Tax Digital but can we trust anything that HMRC says? I was amazed to learn from the supporting documents to the autumn statement that I am engaged in an aggressive abuse of the VAT flat rate scheme by simply following the rules that have existed until now. As I gently slide towards retirement I have a small company to handle my consultancy work and as an accountant I clearly do not have much in the way of taxable inputs. Therefore I registered for the flat rate scheme and would pay my 14.5% except that HMRC is so keen for me to be in the scheme that it has given me a 1% discount for my first year.

I don’t mind having to pay 16.5% from next April if...