14 July 2017 
Amanda Darley, Head of Operations and Engagement
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury has announced that The Finance Bill to be introduced as soon as possible after the summer recess will include legislation for the Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme. However, having listened to feedback, businesses will not be mandated to use the MTD system until April 2019 and then only to meet VAT obligations. Businesses will also be able opt in for other taxes, to benefit from a 'streamlined, digital experience'. The Government has announced it will not widen the scope of MTD beyond VAT before the system has been shown to work well, and not before April 2020 at the earliest. This is to ensure that there is time to test the system fully and for digital record keeping to become more widespread.
Of course, we still don't know what this means for VAT groups comprising a charity (exempt from MTD) and subsidiary companies (not exempt from MTD)!
