ACS has given evidence to the House of Lords Finance Bill sub-committee on the Making Tax Digital proposals, urging the Government to extend the timeframes for transferring business tax accounting onto digital platforms.
The proposals, originally published through six consultation documents in August 2016, aim to introduce a fully digital tax system with the intention of reducing errors in tax reporting.
Speaking during the session, ACS Head of Public Affairs and Policy Edward Woodall said: “In the long term we are supportive of the approach to make tax affairs digital for all business, but we remain concerned about the ambitious timeframes being put forward by the Government. Implementation by 2018 would put significant pressure on thousands of small stores that do not currently have sufficient connection speeds or mobile coverage."
During the session, ACS also raised concerns about the accuracy of the Government’s impact assessment, noting that many small stores will have to invest in both hardware and software to meet the needs of the Making Tax Digital proposals at a time when costs in other areas of their business are increasing.
ACS research has shown that 40% of the convenience stores in the UK have no access to high speed broadband in their business, with many experiencing similar issues around provision of mobile data.
ACS submitted written evidence to the Making Tax Digital proposals in 2016. The full submission can be found on the ACS website here: https://www.acs.org.uk/download/hmrc-making-tax-digital/
The evidence session can be viewed on the Parliament TV website here: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/3f6020cd-d08d-4dd3-b188-5d2def98dea9
