HMRC has further delayed making tax digital owing to the far-reaching effects of the coronavirus crisis on UK business.
In an email to practitioners, businesses and charites, HMRC said: “We understand that the impact of Covid-19 is creating extremely difficult times for all, and we are committed to helping in every way possible all those businesses facing unprecedented challenges.
“Therefore, we are providing all MTD businesses with more time to put in place digital links between all parts of their functional compatible software.
“This means that all businesses now have until their first VAT return period starting on or after 1 April 2021 to put digital links in place.”
Original deadline
The original deadline for the majority of organisations to implement these links was April 2020.
So HMRC’s aim “to become one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world”.
Another controversial policy that has been shelved for now is the amended IR35 scheme.
The need for many employers to determine if contractors should be taxed as employees has been put back to until April 2021.
Economic effects
Also trying to get a handle on the future is the Resolution Foundation. The think-tank has posted a good article on the economic effects of the coronavirus crisis.
Economist Jack Leslie writes: “The economic effects of coronavirus in the UK are already dramatic – as they are in affected economies around the world.
“Early indicators suggest that the ‘sudden stop’ in general economic activity is more severe than during the depths of the financial crisis.
“The labour market has been hit; unemployment looks to be rising faster than at any point during 2008/09.
Government finances
“But there is much that remains uncertain – particularly around the impact on different sectors and how the crisis is affecting the government’s finances, with the impact on revenues particularly uncertain.
“Traditional measures of economic activity are not timely enough to capture these effects.
“The measures presented below provide a snapshot of how the coronavirus shock is propagating through the economy – complementing wider, though more time-lagged, official economic statistics.”
The stats are really worth a look HERE
