Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs will meet the cost of delivering adequate digital infrastructure to (a) people and (b) businesses without such infrastructure by the start of Making Tax Digital.

The Government is currently considering the responses to the Making Tax Digital consultations and will publish its response, draft legislation as well as the Tax Information and Impact Note in January. Issues specific to rural businesses will be assessed as part of this process.

The consultations have gathered evidence on both the nature and deployment of financial support to assist businesses with the transition to Making Tax Digital. For those businesses who are digitally excluded it is the intention of the Government to exempt them from Making Tax Digital and the consultations have sought feedback on the appropriate criteria. The Government will publish its response to the consultations in January.

At the Autumn Statement 2016, the Government announced £1 billion of new funding to boost UK's digital infrastructure. This includes further rollout of fibre broadband networks, enabling faster connections for businesses, helping build a better more productive economy for all.

The majority of businesses, whether VAT registered or not, want to get their tax right, but the recent tax gap figures show that too many business still find that hard. Making Tax Digital will reduce the likelihood of time-consuming errors, lower the chance of compliance checks and give businesses greater certainty that they are getting things right. VAT registered businesses will be able to provide a single update covering both income tax and VAT if they wish.