It has been all over the news for years…the upcoming explosion of Making Tax Digital in the self employed community.
And then it finally happened…Making Tax Digital (MTD) did explode on the scene and many people were amazed it was finally here.
“I can’t believe it,” said one self employed person when MTD arrived.
However, not all self employed people in our nation were aware that MTD had arrived…or maybe they just didn’t care?
120,000 self employed people to be exact. They missed the deadline for filing their tax return within the MTD online system. Which means HMRC were not pleased.
If you are self employed and your business turnover is £85,000 a year or more…then you must register for MTD and do everything online.
If you didn’t then don’t expect to be slapped with a fine just yet, because HMRC are being lenient for once and allowing you more time to get your stuff together. They have WAIVED the fine.
So if this includes you, and the other 120,000 self employed late filers out there, then you have a second chance to get things right.
There was 490,000 people who qualified for the MTD system, but 120,000 didn’t do anything at all, and normally a £100 fine from HMRC would have been in order, at a bare minimum, and even a £400 fine if HMRC were feeling particularly ruthless.
But many self employed people were not even aware of their need to comply with HMRC and their MTD system, which means they missed the deadline.
So now The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have called on HMRC to give the late filers more time…and more time they shall get, because HMRC are being lenient and realising there are still a few glitches in the system anyway.
In other words, You will get another year to make sure you become Making Tax Digital (MTD) compliant, but if you fail to do anything about it and you are still ignoring it this time next year? Then expect HMRC to really crack the whip and dish out the punishment. They won’t be WAIVING anything…but they will WAVE at you to “come here” and take your fine like a man or woman.
In our opinion here at the UC, we think you should sign up for the MTD and get everything sorted, sooner rather than later.
Maybe you are not technically minded or don’t like computers? Then no problem, because you can hire an accountant to do it all for you.
Whatever you do – do it now – because you don’t want to get on the wrong side of HMRC. And the longer you leave it, the more chance you will forget about it.
