August 2021 – Debonair Management Services Limited

What are the basic requirements for MTD ITSA?

There are four requirements for MTD ITSA (draft reg 3):

record business transactions in a digital manner
preserve those records for the defined period
provide a quarterly update to HMRC
provide an end of period statement (EOPS) to HMRC

The records in 1) and 2) comprise data needed to populate the reports required for points 3) and 4), which in turn must be submitted using MTD-compatible software.

The digital means for recording the data does not have to be the same software that submits the data. However, there should be a digital link between the recording software and the submission software.

What exactly must be recorded?

Each transaction must have these data points recorded digitally:

the date of the transaction – the exact time is not required
for expenses – the category out of the specified list of expenses (see below)
for income – the trade or property business the income relates to
the amount or value.

Retail businesses will be able to elect to record daily gross takings rather than every single transaction (draft reg 17), but only if it would be unreasonable for the business to keep digital records of every individual sale.

In addition, the business will have to record the following permanent information as part of its digital records:

∙ the business name

∙ the address of the principal place of business

∙ whether it uses cash accounting or accruals accounting

Can the client give their accountant paper records to enter into software?

The taxpayer does not have to record the business data digitally themselves. They can pass this task over to a bookkeeper or to their accountant to make the entries into accounting software, or a spreadsheet.

Although the aim of MTD is to encourage businesses to record their business transactions in real-time, as they occur, there is nothing in the draft regulations that stipulates exactly when the data must be committed into the digital record. As long as the data for the quarter is recorded before the quarterly submission is compiled and sent to HMRC, there is nothing to prevent a bulk recording of transactions every few weeks or months.

However, the longer the delay between the transaction and being recorded digitally, the greater the risk of loss or corruption of data – which is the whole point of MTD (as HMRC would argue).

Can a spreadsheet be the first entry for digital records?

A spreadsheet can be the entry point for transactional data into the accounting system. However, once that data has been recorded, the MTD regulations stipulate that there should be “digital links” that move the data around the accounting system. This means the data should not be retyped or copied by human hand once it has entered the system.

Think about where the accounting system starts. That is the point the transaction (sale or purchase) is recorded. It may be convenient to capture transactions using optical character readers, or bank feeds, but that doesn’t have to be the entry point of all the data.

A business can still issue paper invoices if the information from that invoice is digitally recorded in the accounting system.

What information is required to be submitted quarterly?

The quarterly submissions will be the totals for the quarter of:

sales income for each trade
purchases/expenses for each category

The categories of expenses are expected to be the same as those currently required in the self-employment section (form SA105) and property section (form SA103F) of the self-assessment tax return. More detail will be set out in the final MTD ITSA regulations.

In essence, the quarterly submission is a rough profit and loss account, no balance sheet figures are required. The data for individual transactions are not required.

Can the accountant make changes in the final submission?

This quarterly data dump does not have to be accurate, any misallocation between expense categories can be adjusted at the end of the period statement (EOPS).

It is in the EOPS that the accountant can make any adjustments for capital allowances, losses, reliefs, disallowable expenses, transactions that have been missed or double-counted.

One EOPS will be required of each trade or property business by 31 January following the end of the tax year.

Can the taxpayer submit estimated figures on the quarterly submissions?

Yes, if the taxpayer wishes to submit estimated expense figures, or even only the income amounts, in the quarterly submissions, that would be acceptable within the current draft MTD regulations.

To avoid the risk of a penalty for late filing some form of data needs to be submitted each quarter.

The quarterly submissions do not contain an accuracy statement. The taxpayer (or accountant) is not required to declare that the quarterly submission is a complete or correct reflection of the net or gross income of the business.

The taxpayer must make a declaration of accuracy on the EOPS, once all the adjustments for the four quarters have been made.

What will HMRC do with the quarterly data?

The quarterly submission will be used by HMRC to calculate an estimate of the business’s tax liability throughout the year, and that figure will be reflected back to the taxpayer. This is likely to confuse rather than assist the taxpayer as the current timing of tax payments will not be changed (for now).

Will tax payments change to quarterly?

Earlier this year there was a Call for evidence: timely payment, which asked for ideas on how the payment of income tax under self assessment, and corporation tax for small companies, could move to more frequent payment dates based on in-year calculations.

by Rebecca Cave

These answers are based on the guidance produced so far by the professional bodies and HMRC, the draft legislation and consultation documents. The final regulations for MTD for income tax (MTD ITSA) will be published in the Autumn (probably in October), so we can’t be confident of how the rules will work exactly until we see those regs.

When must a business join MTD?

It is now apparent that there will be a big bang joining date for MTD ITSA on 6 April 2023 for all unincorporated businesses, whatever their current accounting period end.

Changing to a tax year basis from 2023/24 will mean that all businesses will have to report income and expenses that fall exactly into the tax year. Also, the draft legislation to bring about this change deems an accounting period ending on 31 March to be treated as ending on 5 April for tax purposes.

This combination of basis period and deeming provision means that unincorporated businesses will need to enter the MTD ITSA regime from the next accounting period starting on or after 1 April 2023. Thus businesses which draw up accounts to 31 March 2023 will join MTD ISA from 1 April 2023 not 1 April 2024.

It is possible that Treasury Ministers will be persuaded that having all unincorporated businesses joining MTD ITSA at exactly the same time, and reporting to the same quarterly deadlines, will put an impossible strain on HMRC’s systems and resources. We will have to wait and see what the final MTD regulations say when they are released.

Will the turnover threshold change?

We do not expect the turnover threshold to change in the final MTD ITSA regulations. HMRC has made it clear that all unincorporated businesses with an annual turnover exceeding £10,000 will be required to report income and expenses under MTD ITSA.

This turnover threshold takes into account income from all businesses, trades and property. A person with £6,000 of trading income and £6,000 of rental income will be required to report under MTD ITSA as their total turnover exceeds £10,000.

Will there be any deferral of start date?

Partnerships which only have individuals as partners will have to join MTD ITSA from April 2023.

However, there will be a deferral (for an undefined period) for MTD ITSA mandation for the following categories of partnership:

Partnerships containing a corporate partner
LLPs
Limited partnerships

Will there be any exemptions?

The latest MTD ITSA policy update indicates that the following taxpayers will have full exemption from MTD ITSA:

Trusts (including trusts with property income)
Estates of deceased persons
Trustees of registered pension schemes
Non-resident companies

In addition, some individuals may be able to claim exemption from MTD ITSA on the basis that they are digitally excluded.

We do not have the HMRC guidance for MTD ITSA at this point yet, but VAT Notice 700/22 indicates that if the taxpayer can get any internet access at their home, business or to another location they will not be exempt on the basis of digital exclusion. This takes no account of the speed or reliability of the internet access.

Any easement?

HMRC has confirmed that there will be no easement for taxpayers attempting to comply with the MTD ITSA regulations in the first year, but a late filing penalty will not apply until four quarterly submissions have been filed late.

There is no information yet on whether penalties will apply for inaccurate quarterly submissions under MTD ITSA.

The whole system of penalties for late filing and late payment of income tax and VAT is to be revised as set out in FA 2021 ss116-118, schs 24, 25, 26. The changes impose a complex system of points that build up to a financial penalty. It is expected that this new system will be brought in alongside MTD ITSA.

What are the filing deadlines?

HMRC has confirmed that the quarterly filing deadlines for all unincorporated businesses filing under MTD ITSA will be: 5 August, 5 November, 5 February, and 5 May. Those businesses with accounting dates of 31 March or 1, 2, 3, 4 April, will also file by these deadlines, so a business with a 31 March accounting date will have 5 extra days to file.

The first mandated MTD submission for the first quarter to 5 July 2023 will have to reach HMRC by 5 August 2023, which is a Saturday in the Summer Bank Holiday weekend in Scotland.

What exactly will be submitted?

The quarterly MTD ITSA submission will consist of total sales income in the period and totals of expenses in defined categories. It is expected that those categories will be aligned with expense totals currently required for the self-employed section of the self-assessment tax return. Quarterly balance sheet statements will not be required.

Any accounting adjustments, for say capital allowances or losses, will be made on the final submission for the year – known as the end of period statement (EOPS).

How will the tax position be finalised?

The EOPS will have to be submitted by 31 January following the end of the tax year. HMRC hope that tax software providers will incorporate the EOPS into the tax software which also compiles and submits the finalisation statement.

It is the finalisation statement, that calculates the tax liability for the year, which effectively replaces the SA tax return. Any sources of income which have not been reported on the quarterly MTD submissions or EOPS is included in the finalisation statement.

Taxpayers who are not within MTD ITSA, but are currently required to submit an SA return (eg to report gains or taxable interest) will continue to submit a SA tax return.

https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tax/hmrc-policy/mtd-for-itsa-your-questions-answered?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AWUKPOTW110821&utm_content=AWUKPOTW110821+CID_8bf16dd1f11359f8b56dfb5fb97f3208&utm_source=internal_cm&utm_term=Read%20more

Month: August 2021

MTD ITSA: Your questions answered – part 2