Making Tax Digital, VAT and newly registered businesses

All VAT registered businesses with a turnover over the current VAT registration threshold of £85,000 will be required to comply with the Making Tax Digital (MTD) record keeping and reporting requirements for VAT periods which start on and after 1^st April 2019.

Where a business is VAT registered but has turnover under £85,000 at April 2019, it is not required to enter the MTD regime in April 2019. However, will have to monitor their turnover on a rolling 12-month basis, and if the turnover breaches the VAT registration threshold, the business will have to enter the MTD regime from the beginning of the next available VAT period.

Once a business is within the MTD regime, it can’t opt out even if its turnover drops below the threshold of £85,000. The only way out will be to deregister for VAT.

Any business which registers for VAT on or after 1^st April 2019 will be required to go straight into digital record keeping and the MTD regime from the start of their first VAT period, unless the business has registered voluntarily, in which case MTD reporting will not be mandatory.

Charities and landlords, who let VAT-opted property, will also fall within the MTD regime on the same terms as set out above.

If you wish to discuss this further, please contact your local office or usual Whiting & Partners contact. Alternatively, we have a number of start-up seminars for new businesses looking for advice on MTD.  For more information please visit our events page.

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.