I’m yet to see survey results that demonstrate the accounting profession is fully supportive of, and prepared for, the digital future. The latest piece of research by Thomson Reuters does little to change that.
UK tax professionals are still unsure how to get ready MTD for VAT.
About 70 per cent of the 146 tax and accounting professionals surveyed said they had developed plans, but not started implementation.
The research also found that 37 per cent will now halt changing policies until HMRC provides updates about the revised October 2019 MTD for VAT deadline for “businesses with complex requirements”.
Records maintenance
About 72 per cent say software and digital records maintenance top their MTD worry list.
Over 60 per cent of accountants still manually track VAT, despite 80 per cent saying they use the HMRC portal to submit VAT returns. That’s up from 53 per cent in summer 2018.
According to Thomson Reurters: “Increased use of the portal is positive, but it is clear that finance departments are unsure on the technological and process changes they need to make moving forward.”
Quick fix approach
When it comes to storing VAT info, over half of those asked still prefer the spreadsheet! And a third (34 per cent) believe that they will still use Excel to keep digital records relating to VAT post-MTD-implementation.
This would imply that they are considering a “quick fix approach to MTD for VAT”.
Kim Hau, of ONESOURCE Indirect Tax at Thomson Reuters says: “There is a real opportunity for tax accountants to embrace software that does much more than simply file a return.
“By accepting the inevitable move towards digital tax reporting, companies can use the new October 2019 deadline to implement indirect tax compliance software that will bring benefits such as automation, reporting, cost savings and improved compliance.
“It will mean businesses are ready for 2019, 2020 and other future tax changes, rather than taking a quick fix ‘sticking plaster’ approach.”
Thomson Reuters is a provider of news and information-based tools to professionals. Its network of journalists keep customers up to speed on global developments, with a particular focus on legal, regulatory and tax changes. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com.
