Most VAT registered businesses that have a turnover above the VAT registration limit of £85,000 should now have filed at least their first VAT return under MTD. There are VAT registered entities who were given a deferment to filing, with most of these in the process of beginning to file under MTD.
The one biggest hurdle we have found is often the “jump” from manual records to software. More often than not, the manual records were of good quality and moving to software should not have any impact on the VAT payable/reclaimable.
By using software to file a VAT return, there are other benefits – it can save the keys on a calculator for one. There are many MTD compatible software programmes available, and they do not have to be “cloud based” i.e. via the internet. All that is required is the ability to file a VAT return from a piece of software via the internet. For this reason, some clients prefer their accounting data to be “offline” (desktop based) and only use the internet to file VAT returns. This can be of use with poor internet speeds, which is not uncommon in some rural areas.
HMRC do have periods of MTD being unavailable due to maintenance. These periods tend to stay clear of filing deadlines and are mostly through the night, so for the vast majority, there should be no delays in filing MTD VAT returns.
There are no plans to introduce MTD to smaller businesses until at least April 2020. With a General Election looming, this is subject to change. This could mean non VAT registered entities could need to file under MTD too.
If you need to know more about MTD for VAT or what software we would suggest for your business, please contact us.
