Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he increase the Making Tax Digital threshold of £85,000 turnover per annum from 1 April 2019 to help support sole traders.

I updated the House on progress in implementing Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT on 19 February 2019: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-02-19/debates/802C22E7-88AF-4B3D-A5A6-E98E60F54E50/MakingTaxDigital

Most sole traders who are registered for VAT are below the threshold and are therefore already exempt from MTD, though they can choose to join the new service. The decision announced in July 2017 to exempt businesses below the VAT registration threshold responded to feed back about the impact of MTD on the smallest businesses. There are currently no plans to increase the threshold for MTD for VAT.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is working to support small businesses that need help to transition to MTD and engage digitally.