Submitted by
Sestini & Co | on Sun, 08/20/2017 - 11:00 | In
Accounting and systems,
digital tax This year, in particular, it seems that the Government is having great fun dropping elements from the March Finance Bill, then picking them up and making them retroactive from April and keeping us on tenterhooks about other developments to be discussed in October…
Perhaps one of the welcome changes for businesses and business owners is around the timings of the Making Tax Digital scheme and its requirement for organisations to increase reporting to HMRC to a quarterly basis, pushing changes back from April 2018.
Under the revised timetable:
- From 2019 only businesses with a turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £85,000 p.a.) will have to keep digital records and only for VAT purposes
- From 2020 at the earliest, businesses will be required to keep digital records and update HMRC quarterly for other taxes
- Small businesses (with a turnover below the VAT threshold) will be able to file digitally on a voluntary basis for other taxes.
Be smart, start now
At Sestini & Co we encourage our customers to start the process to digital book keeping and accounting now, to be well prepared for the changes that are inevitably coming.
We suggest using the latest cloud-based accounting software such as Xero and tools such as the ReceiptBank app (find out more in our blog) to increase efficiency, get closer to real-time reporting and to ensure that financial documents such as invoices and receipts are kept safely and securely online. Taking these steps will save businesses many man hours, as well as allowing them and their advisers to more proactively plan, budget and make investment decisions.
Even for non-VAT registered businesses below the tax threshold there are benefits to using tools such as Xero and ReceiptBank and the Making Tax Digital system – such as being able to check the HMRC records online against your own.
Today’s online accounting packages such as Xero are so well-designed that they’re intuitive to use, even by one-man-bands or companies who’ve previously relied on traditional paper-based processes. And the price of the software is much less than people expect, starting from just £15 a month for access to Xero when purchased through Sestini & Co.
Contact us
If you’d like to discuss how to prepare for the revised timescales or how to get your business using the latest accounting software, call us on 01761 241 861 or email us today. We will be pleased to advise you or to invite you into our offices in Paulton, near Bristol and Bath, for a consultation.
