Making Tax Digital

johnhemming

HMRC are giving out quite a few exemptions, but they are not accepting all of the applications.

sasparillo

You can still ask HMRC for a paper tax return.

AbbieCadabra

gilbertthecat wrote: »

Search for "Free" on the HMRC recognised software list and you should come across Portico - see vat.portico.openanswers.co.uk

just for info in case it does turn out to be an issue.

We've been on DD payments for a while on VAT. For our current quarterly return I've signed up for MTD (took 2 days for it to be confirmed ok by HMRC) & filed using the free portico software as above without any problems.

Our return has been received ok by HMRC but it isn't overly clear that the DD is still active & portico is only bridging software so it doesn't refer to it when the return is filed, & I wouldn't expect it to.

Our HMRC online account is a little ambiguous & looks like there's an active DD for vat, but then again, possibly not according to another screen!

I've finally managed to get thru to VAT (tel:0300 2003700 call queues are very lengthy) & they've advised that the DD is active & 'should' transfer across to the MTD system next week. But if a payment hasn't been taken by 12th July, call them again to query.

I asked if I could make a bacs payment instead now & then just check the DD again for the next quarter, but this was advised against as it could mean a duplicate payment by DD. HMRC have assured me that there won't be any late payment penalty if the DD doesn't work as they're treating everything as a 'soft landing' & there are lots of known issues with MTD...

As expected, it's all going swimmingly well then :rotfl:

Slinky

I logged into check earlier and it looks as though there is the usual request for a VAT return for me for the next quarter. I haven't registered for MTD and have stopped trading recently, so with any luck I'll be able to submit one last return, pay what's due and forget about MTD.

johnhemming

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

Our return has been received ok by HMRC but it isn't overly clear that the DD is still active & portico is only bridging software so it doesn't refer to it when the return is filed, & I wouldn't expect it to.

The APIs do not handle DDs directly, but the return receipt when you submit a return should tell you whether a DD is registered or not.

You can also use the other APIs to look up HMRC's data base to find out what they are expecting.

johnhemming

Slinky wrote: »

I logged into check earlier and it looks as though there is the usual request for a VAT return for me for the next quarter. I haven't registered for MTD and have stopped trading recently, so with any luck I'll be able to submit one last return, pay what's due and forget about MTD.

I am not aware of anyone being fined as yet for not using MTD, but this quarter about to end is the first mandatory quarter (there have been mandatory months).

I am also unaware of any penalties for late submissions as yet.

Barney_Rubble_0403

Picking up on the DD side of things. I managed to get our first MTD VAT return in just on time - hell of a time getting Sage and server software updated. No problems with the return, allreceived on HMRC system.

Received an email to say the existing DD would be replaced with a me one quoting a new reference number. I can see this logged on our banking system but the DD was never taken. The Gateway has us logged as overdue.

Rang them on Friday and they could offer no explanation. It doesn't look lile it was ever requested rather than being rejected. Had to pay it manually.

Looks like there are others out there with,th the same problem so it looks like a bug in the system.

johnhemming

Barney_Rubble_0403 wrote: »

Received an email to say the existing DD would be replaced with a me one quoting a new reference number. I can see this logged on our banking system but the DD was never taken. The Gateway has us logged as overdue.

Can you tell me the date on which you applied to join MTD and when your previous period ended?

I have raised an issue with HMRC about similar situations. One potential cause is that a DD is reset in between a submission being made and the dd being due to be taken. I think this can happen if people join in between the two points.

Barney_Rubble_0403

@johnhemming - the VAT return was febt to Apr and the return was sent a few days before the due date. June 4/5th - something like that. I didn't get to register for MTD until late May due to ongoing compatibility issues.

From memory I believe their DD email was dated May 23rd. So all relatively last minute.

johnhemming

@Barney Rubble
They have always had problems with things changing before the due dates. At one stage they needed 3 working weeks plus 48 hours before the filing date (in that case 4/5 June) before the DD would get lost. They were supposed to reject applications that were too late, but didn't always do that.

I think the probable cause of your DD being lost was that you changed across just a bit too close to the DD being taken.

My recommendation to people has been to wait a week until after the previous DD is taken and then to apply to join MTD. A lot of my clients don't actually use DDs for HMRC, but generally this has worked. What I don't know, however, is whether your DD will now work or not