Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the Making Tax Digital changes that were implemented in April 2019.

There are now over 340,000 businesses in the MTD for VAT service, and over 200,000 VAT returns have been successfully submitted. Businesses need to use the MTD service for their first VAT return period starting on or after 1 April, so for the majority, who file quarterly, their first VAT return through MTD will not be due until 7 August at the earliest.

HMRC has published a statement of impacts for the Making Tax Digital for Business programme, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-tax-digital-changing-the-scope-and-pace-technical-note/making-tax-digital-for-business.

HMRC is monitoring the number of sign-ups closely, as well as MTD’s effectiveness.