Making Tax Digital (MTD) is a government initiative to modernise HMRC’s tax system, with the aim of making the whole process of administrating tax simpler and more efficient. All of your tax information will be in one place (your digital account) and you will be able to pay taxes based on your business activity during the year. You can upload and update your tax account in real-time.
If you own a business or are self-employed and pay income tax, national insurance, VAT or corporation tax, then it is quite likely you will be affected. This means you could be required to keep track of your tax affairs digitally using MTD-compatible software, and update HMRC at least quarterly via your digital tax account. Eventually, this will abolish the annual tax return. This will be the law and there will be penalties for non-compliance.
MTD for Income Tax should become law from 6 April 2024. It will initially apply to the self-employed and those who receive income from property, with gross income from these sources combined above a threshold of £10,000.
The government is running a pilot scheme where businesses can use the online service Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
See: Sign up as an individual for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK(www.gov.uk)