lN this week’s Money Matters – Ask the Experts column, from Goldwyns Accountants, based in Southend, Thomas Robinson ACA, a chartered accountant and a manager at the company, provides guidance on plans to make tax digital.

Dear Goldwyns - I’m registered for self-assessment so have to complete a tax return every year, but I’m fed up of bureaucratic form filling – how much longer will I have to do this for?

Thomas Robinson responds: The good news is that HM Revenue and Customs have taken the same view on tax returns and so have announced that they are embracing the digital revolution and by 2020 they will have moved to a fully digital system. In short, the self-assessment tax return is being killed off.

With more than ten million people having to complete tax returns each year, this will bring a sense of relief to many but, as with almost every good piece of news (especially tax related), there’s a catch: don’t plan your quiet January just yet!

As part of HMRC’s “Making Tax Digital” plans, all taxpayers will have their own digital account. Individuals and small businesses should already be able to access theirs, although the information currently shown is rather limited.

The theory is that taxpayers will only have to log into their account and check the details that HMRC have already been told by your employer, bank or any other income source are correct. Although this should work simply for those who only receive salary from their employer and minimal bank interest (i.e. people not likely to currently be in self-assessment) anyone who is self-employed or running their own company will be required to provide additional information to HMRC.

The body blow is this information will be required by HMRC every three months, rather than the current once a year system.

The exact details of what will be required, and how to provide it, have not yet been finalised; nor has HMRC’s inevitable penalty regime for anyone who is late or provides incorrect information.

However, what has been announced is that this will come into effect for businesses (including the self-employed or those letting property) with income above the VAT threshold in April 2018. Smaller businesses, VAT returns and Corporation Tax for companies are currently planned to follow in succeeding years.

There is also much debate about the expected cost to business of this new system. HMRC have estimated it to be £280 per business, but higher figures have been estimated from surveys of accountants and the Federation of Small Business has conducted research which sets the cost at £2,770 per business.

The waters are slowly clearing around the new system but with so many details and nuances still to be decided and announced, the best advice is to stay in touch with your accountant so they can keep you informed of the latest developments and guide you through the new processes.

**The next column from Goldwyns Accountants will appear in the Echo on July 11. To find out more visit www.goldwyns.co.uk If you have any financial or taxation questions you would like Goldwyns to tackle in future columns, send them to info@goldwyns.co.uk or call 01702 351412.