03 July 2018 
Amanda Darley, Head of Operations and Engagement
Our Making Tax Digital presentation with the PwC demonstration of their Global Indirect Tax Compliance ('GITC') tool, and the discussion of how BUFDG members are working with them to create bespoke HE reports and dashboards for it, generated a lot of interest at the tax conference. The tool will provide universities with the Application Programme Interface (API) they will need from 1 April 2019 to submit their VAT returns to HMRC, will store all the mandatory 'digital records' from 1 April 2019, and will provide numerous other efficiency and transparency benefits to universities that go far beyond complying with the new Making Tax Digital (MTD) legislation.
But we realise that not everyone was able to attend the tax conference, and that FDs in particular might be curious about this tool which they may be being asked to provide some budget to pay for, so PwC will be hosting a WebEx demonstration of the tool, aimed at university FDs and tax managers, on Wednesday 18 July from 1:30pm-2:15pm.
Details of how to register for the WebEx will be circulated shortly, but in the meantime, please block out the time in your calendar. We have less than 9 months until MTD is implemented by HMRC, so you need to get as much information as possible now to formulate and execute your plan to become MTD compliant. More details about MTD and the PwC BUFDG 'base package' for GITC, and the costs for this, as well as some of its capabilities can be found here. (I recently discovered the annual licence cost for another provider's MTD bridging tool which only provides the API link to submit your VAT return figures is equivalent to the annual licence price PwC is offering to BUFDG members for the link PLUS all the additional functionality that GITC can provide…).
We will also be issuing a high-level MTD readiness questionnaire assessment shortly, to assist you in fully understanding your existing process and identify any gaps which are not currently MTD-compliant, along with a brief guide to (what we think) MTD will mean in practice (bearing in mind that HMRC is yet to release final guidance on this).
