Employers have criticised the introduction of Real Time Information (RTI) after paying £292m in one-off and transitional costs, which were not fully forecasted at the start of the programme, with stakeholders stressing the importance of applying the learning from RTI when introducing Making Tax Digital

As part of its Making Tax Digital initiative, HMRC is consulting on ways to simplify the range of penalties, sanctions and rates of interest across the main taxes, income tax self assessment, corporation tax and VAT

HMRC has revised down sharply its estimate of the transitional cost to business of implementing its flagship Making Tax Digital programme to £109 rather than £280 as originally forecast, following the decision to limit the number of businesses required to switch to digital updates and confining the first implementation to VAT reporting only

In a Budget bereft of detail on Making Tax Digital, the government did confirm that it will release a revised costings document on the impact of the introduction of the VAT reporting changes on 1 December

Proposals put forward by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) suggesting a potential reduction in the VAT registration threshold could impose digital record keeping requirements on small businesses earlier than expected, as well as increasing costs and administrative burdens, the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) is warning

Nearly 80% of accountants still rely on spreadsheets and one in five (18%) still use paper ledgers despite 60% saying that the finance and accounting profession is at a technological tipping point, according to research from software provider Xero

As the first HMRC simple assessments are sent out, Meg Wilson CTA explains how they work for affected taxpayers including new pensioners and anyone who has underpaid PAYE and what action they need to take as they are pulled into the first wave of implementation, effectively seeing the abolition of their annual tax return

With sketchy information available about the plans for the rollout of Making Tax Digital for VAT, Stephen Relf CTA ACA examines early plans for changes to VAT reporting including qualifying criteria, compliance and thresholds

Accountancy software provider Xero has said providing free programmes for Making Tax Digital quarterly reporting is not practical and should not be expected as the costs to build the software and provide a good service to taxpayers are too high, reports Amy Austin

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) is to look at how advances in IT could simplify the design or administration of the tax system, particularly as Making Tax Digtal forces exclusive digital reporting and Blockchain currencies go more mainstream

HMRC has reported IT problems stopping taxpayers from filing tax returns for 2016/17 and an issue affecting PAYE accounts, which means they are not updating correctly

President of the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) Graham Batty has called on HMRC to broaden the scope of its Making Tax Digital pilots, both in terms of number of participants and duration