MTD mandatory for some self-employed businesses and landlords from April 2023

Lurking among myriad policy statements made on 21 July the government announced that making tax digital (MTD) would be extended to self-employed businesses and landlords with a turnover above £10 000 from April 2023 and to all businesses below the VAT threshold from April 2022.

The government intends to introduce legislation in Finance Bill 2020/21 to ‘ensure every VAT-registered business takes the step to move to a modern digital tax service’.

In a statement to the House of Commons financial secretary to the treasury Jesse Norman said: ‘The Covid-19 pandemic has also highlighted the need for a more flexible resilient and responsive tax system that provides businesses and HMRC with more up-to-date information on businesses and their finances and enables easier identification and better targeting of taxpayer support.

‘The government is therefore announcing a roadmap for HMRC’s MTD programme. Since April...