The tax authority has confirmed that due to the purdah period up until the EU referendum means that the various consultations expected around digital tax accounts will not be released until late June at the earliest.

There are concerns about the slippage on the consultation process with likelihood that consultations may have to be rushed. An HMRC spokesperson told Accountancy: ‘The consultations will be released after the referendum giving plenty of time for review and feedback.’

Beta testing for quarterly updates was meant to begin by July 2016. In addition, authorised agents are expected to be able to manage clients’ quarterly tax updates by December 2016.

So far details on the contents of the consultations are unclear although the original plan was to roll out small business digital tax accounts by April 2017.

Brian Palmer, tax policy expert at AAT, said: ‘While it is extremely disappointing that the publication of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) consultation documents has now been postponed until after the EU Referendum has taken place, from my perspective I can fully understand this decision.

‘Making Tax Digital is going to be such a fundamental change and will have such ramifications that we do want the full attention of individuals and businesses alike when we finally do get the consultation documents.

‘It is vital that people and businesses understand what MTD will mean for them. I hope that as an outcome from the consultations MTD will not be mandated, for those adversely affected, until broadband coverage in the UK is entirely robust and fit for purpose.

AAT looks forward to the publication of the consultations and engaging with Government in the future as to how the new system can work best.’