It was recently discovered that more than 40% of small-business owners are still ignorant of the Making Tax Digital effort, according to a recent research.
Starting in April 2019, VAT-registered firms with a turnover of more than £85,000 will be required to maintain a digital record of their VAT transactions and to file their VAT returns using software that is compliant with the Making Tax Digital programme.
Several findings of the current research have been revealed, including:
In addition to being unfamiliar with MTD, slightly more than a quarter of the business owners polled stated that they would only file electronically if doing so would prevent them from obtaining a financial penalty.
More than 75% of those who answered the survey thought the new MTD legislation would be tough.
More than two-thirds of respondents who took part in the survey indicated that locating the programme would be challenging.
More than 40% of respondents who responded to the study stated that they rely on their accountant for information about their taxes and business financial concerns, according to the results. More than half the respondents agreed that their accountant should play a significant role in guiding them through what they believe to be the ‘MTD Maze.'
However, this is worrying for these organisations because a significant proportion of accountants who participated in the poll (about 30%) claimed that they were either unfamiliar with or had no knowledge of MTD.
What level of preparedness does your accountant have for the MTD transition?
It is imperative that you evaluate whether your current processes, procedures, and software are in compliance with the new legislation as the deadline for implementing Making Tax Digital approaches.
Those of you who are already users of Inform Accounting can relax a little bit more. All of our procedures are managed by the cloud accounting platform Xero, so as soon as MTD is introduced, we will be prepared to file your VAT returns (as well as dealing with all of your other digital filing requirements) in compliance with the new regulations.
It is possible that you will need to make the transition to the cloud while still working with a traditional accountant or even while still using outdated desktop accounting software to manage your business. Now is an excellent time to make this transition because cloud computing is becoming more and more affordable.
As the deadline draws closer, the demand for MTD-ready accountants is projected to grow. Get ahead of the game and ensure that you're prepared to hit the ground running when the deadline rolls around by completing this checklist.
