FOR many VAT registered businesses the 7th of August will be the deadline for the first filing of VAT returns under the new Making Tax Digital (MTD) regime.

MTD affects all VAT registered businesses with Vatable turnover over £85,000 and to comply with the new MTD regime the majority of these businesses will have to submit their VAT returns quarter that commenced after the 1st April 2019 under the new system.

Under MTD rules, businesses have to submit their quarterly June VAT quarter returns via MTD compliant software and the old system will not be an acceptable way of filling your return. Businesses must sign up to the new system prior to filing their returns.

It is important to note that the deadline for registering to pay VAT by Direct Debit (DD) has already passed (27th July) and those businesses that have not made DD arrangements in time, will need to set up their MTD account within 3 business days prior to the 7th August 2019.

At Armstrong Watson we have spent the past year preparing clients ready for the digital change over. For most businesses our Xero accounting software package is the perfect solution but for others we have had to look at alternative options.

This should not be seen as an inconvenience, but instead - as many of our clients are quickly recognising - this as an opportunity to make accounting systems more efficient, not only saving time but actually having more accurate financial information available to them.

If you wold like to know more about MTD and hear how digital accounting could really benefit your business, please contact our Making Tax Digital team on 0808 144 5575 or email mtd@armstrongwatson.co.uk