Making Tax Digital is HMRC’s new methodology for the submission of VAT Returns from April 2019. It will require all VAT registered businesses to submit their Returns using compliant Making Tax Digital Software , rather than through existing processes.

There are currently 150 software providers working with HMRC to ensure their software will be tested and ready to go by April 2019. Of those, more than 40 expect to have their software ready for the first phase of the Making Tax Digital pilot, with more set to follow later.

Xero, Quickbooks, FreeAgent and Sage all appear on the ‘ready to go’ Making Tax Digital Software list, which can be found here.

If you’re using software that doesn’t appear just yet, don’t panic!

There’s still time for your supplier to get things in place.

As we’ve mentioned before, Making Tax Digital will force some businesses to make the move to a software option rather than a more manual process. Apart from the obvious pain of adopting new practices, there are tangible benefits to using software, in time and accuracy, as well as the reporting that becomes available.

If you’re currently using either manual records or spreadsheets, please do get in touch.

We can help you make the move as painlessly as possible, and make sure you’re set up as efficiently as possible from the start. Not all software is equal, even if it’s compliant for Making Tax Digital, so it’s important you choose the right option for your business.

More details around the new regulations can be found in the full VAT notice, but if you’d rather not wade through that and would like to chat through how it will affect you, do get in touch!