TAX OVERHAUL FAR TOO RUSHED

摘要

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), alongside a number of other business groups, clearly stated early on that we were disappointed Making Tax Digital (MTD) and particularly mandatory quarterly tax reporting were announced with no forewarning, no prior consultation and no robust impact assessment. There was no attempt to demonstrate the rationale for a set of proposals likely to cause significant disruption and transitional costs for millions of small firms. Our opposition to MTD is not universal. It will be of benefit for many small businesses, particularly those who have the resources and already use the digital software to adapt easily to the new requirements. Since the programme was announced in the 2015 Autumn Statement, we have actively engaged with HMRC to communicate our key concerns around the proposals, including on mandatory quarterly tax reporting. A large proportion of the business community is still unaware of these proposals. Clearly, more needs to be done by HMRC to engage with the business community ahead of implementation.