‘HMRC is exploring, with specialists, the role of spreadsheets in business record keeping and their ability to meet the requirements and benefits of MTD compatible software,’ it stated in the Bringing business tax into the digital age consultation.

‘We are interested in the views of businesses on how spreadsheets could meet the requirements of MTD as set out in subsequent chapters of this consultation.’

It is a prospect that could have far-reaching consequences across UK business given its ubiquity across all levels of the economy, from large listed companies to sole traders.

‘A lot of people, particularly large groups, will use Excel spreadsheets as a way of joining things up,’ ICAEW technical manager Anita Monteith told CCH Daily. ‘Just as HMRC has a lot of different computer systems, it’s not unusual for large groups to have the same.

‘For small businesses, there will be hundreds of thousands that use Excel spreadsheets. You work from a file of receipts, you list them all out and Excel neatly adds them up for you, and you can do your VAT. It’s a really normal way for small businesses to work.’

CCH Daily asked Microsoft, whose Excel programme is the most widely used spreadsheet software, for its views on the prospect, but it declined to comment.