The government's 10-years tax administration strategy

A new government report Building a trusted, modern tax administration system sets the government’s vision for the future of tax administration in the United Kingdom, designed to improve its resilience, effectiveness and support for taxpayers.

As part of this 10 years vision, the document sets out a roadmap for the extension of Making Tax Digital (MTD) and opens up a wider conversation on longer term reforms to the tax administration system.

HMRC confirmed that MTD would be extended as follows:

• MTD for VAT will apply to all VAT registered businesses, regardless of turnover, from April 2022 (currently it only applies to businesses with taxable turnover above the VAT threshold of £85,000).
• Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) will be introduced from April 2023, for unincorporated businesses and landlords with business income over £10,000 per annum.
• The government will consult later this year in relation to corporation tax.

While the government’s commitment to building a digital tax administration has been broadly welcomed, the timing of the announcement, as businesses continue to work through the knock-on effects of coronavirus, has raised concern.

The ten-year plan also will cover a number of key areas:

• for policy, a progressive extension of HMRC’s MTD work;
• for systems, exploring appropriate timing and frequency for the payment of different taxes, and the necessary supporting technology infrastructure; and
• for law and practice, a reform of the tax administration framework itself.

HMRC intends to bring forward any changes ‘incrementally and consultatively’, working with taxpayers, agents and software providers to take forward its vision of the future, committing also to work closely with representative bodies