VAT-registered businesses must prepare prior to April 2019 MTD requirement, says tax expert

Businesses that are over the VAT threshold are being advised to prepare ahead of the Making Tax Digital VAT rollout, due on April 1 2019, which makes it a mandatory requirement that VAT records be digitised for all businesses with a taxable turnover of £85,000, the current threshold for VAT registration. 

Businesses below the current threshold that are currently registered for VAT, may choose to opt into MTD for VAT but they are not legally obliged to. 

HMRC issued its VAT Notice 700/22 in January to provide businesses with further information regarding the MTD for VAT requirements. 

David Redfern, managing director of DSR Tax Claims, commented, “The future may be paperless but MTD won’t initially remove the requirement to keep any physical business records. It may still be necessary to retain a paper copy of the business record.” 

Additionally, Redfern cautioned businesses to consider their data backup arrangements carefully in order to ensure that vital financial data is not irretrievably lost in the event of technological failure.