The benefits to advisers of Making Tax Digital

KEY POINTS

• Are tax practitioners taking a too negative view of Making Tax Digital?
• There will be a complex mixture of old and new tax filing deadlines.
• Will HMRC try to understand that some taxpayers may have genuine difficulties filing online?
• Tax practitioners and accountants may need new skills but there are opportunities.
• The potential to move from compliance to business adviser.
• A case study illustrates the challenges and possibilities.

Much has been written in the short period since HMRC released its responses to the initial Making Tax Digital (MTD) consultation and Andrew Hubbard provided some early thoughts in ‘Ploughing on’ (Taxation 9 February 2016). The consensus seems to be that although there may be some concessions regarding timing penalties...