HMRC announcement that it will manually sign up taxpayers who are in the scope of MTD shows the scheme is ‘not optional’, says the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT).
From September HMRC said it will chase up customers that need to use MTD for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, but have yet to sign themselves up.
And there are going to be hundreds of thousands of these ‘customers’, as HMRC revealed just 436,000 sole traders and landlords successfully submitted their first quarterly update ahead of the 7 August deadline. It was estimated that more than 860,000 returns were expected.
Emma Rawson, Director of Public Policy for the Association of Taxation Technicians, said: “Anyone who believes they are within scope of MTD but has not yet signed up should consider taking action now rather than waiting to hear from HMRC. Registering directly, or through an agent, gives taxpayers greater control over the process and more time to ensure they have the right software, digital records and systems in place before their MTD obligations come fully into effect.”
