Don’t wait for making tax digital

Key points

• Many tools are already in place to enable most of the making tax digital policy goals to be delivered.
• HMRC could improve its software listings page by having a ‘digital’ flag on those that already offer end-to-end capability.
• An MTD LITE could be set up for smaller businesses not registered for VAT to report transactions.
• Modernise self-assessment filing around existing familiar tax forms and logic with pre-population embedded in third party software.

June’s National Audit Office (NAO) report Progress on Making Tax Digital and Public Accounts Committee meeting into making tax digital (MTD) are a chance to rethink HMRC’s approach to the programme and especially for MTD for income tax self assessment (ITSA).

In the words of the NAO HMRC faces ‘major work to complete on all the significant elements (restarting its pilot with business taxpayers moving tax systems and records and changing its...