'Making Tax Digital' (MTD)
new VAT rules are coming.
With new VAT rules coming into effect from 1 April 2019, you will need to ensure your business is ready to comply with the changes.
A recent ICAEW survey has shown that almost HALF of all VAT registered business (one quarter of all businesses) are still using ‘paper-based’ accounting systems – and still . If you are VAT registered and do not use an electronic accounting system, your records will not be acceptable for the new MTD rules.
So what are the MTD rules?
MTD for VAT means that all VAT-registered businesses will need to keep digital records. In addition to making digital record keeping for VAT compulsory, MTD requires all VAT returns to be filed through software, from 1 April 2019.
What this means for your business
If you currently operate a paper-based accounting system, you will need to make a switch to digital – for this, you have a number of options available:
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Engage an accountant to make your VAT filings on your behalf – at Waite Financial, we have licensed software which allows us to comply with the requirements of MTD.
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Purchase/invest in new accounting software in-house.
What will this cost your business?
Making the digital switch will require some investment. Lots of modern accounting software’s charge monthly fees, so luckily the up-front cost is often low with an in-house solution, however, other cost considerations might include:
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(large/small text jumble) – cost of training yourself or staff to use the software (training costs)
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Cost of migrating data from your old to new system (cost of data migration)
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Inefficiencies and/or disruption created by changing from an established system
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Hardware costs (if you need computer upgrades to run the software’s)
If you want to keep your record-keeping in-house, then Waite Financial can advise and support you with a range of different bookkeeping software solutions – get in touch with us, and we’d be happy to help get you set-up.
Or; if you wish to outsource you VAT compliance matters, then we offer the cost of this service within our ‘Recommended’ package as standard, so this will not cost you anything extra. Get in touch with us if you wish to discuss outsourcing your accounting.