Just over half of eligible taxpayers filed their first of five annual tax returns in the hated new ‘Making Tax Digital’ scheme. This is going to be a disaster…
Last year HMRC told more than 864,000 sole traders and landlords that they were required to enter Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026, which covers everyone with self-employment and property income above £50,000. Soon to be expanded…
The first deadline fell on 7 August 2026 and HMRC pushed out a release five days later boasting that more than 436,000 people had successfully sent their first quarterly update. That is 50.5% of those in scope – meaning 428,000 haven’t filed…
Late penalties for filing will be introduced from 6 April next year. £200 fines on the way…
The hated scheme – referred to by government insiders as “Making Tax Difficult” – replaces one annual tax return with five filings a year. A sole trader who also lets property has to file two updates every quarter, taking it to nine. Only 570,000 people have actually signed up to the service so far. From September the taxman will start automatically signing up those who haven’t enrolled…
The eligibility threshold drops to £30,000 from April 2027, dragging in a further 1,077,000 people, then to £20,000 from April 2028. Good luck one and all…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”