Only last week I spent some time on a phone call from a very worried practitioner who was seeking my views about Making Tax Digital, specifically with regard as to his reaction – whehter to sell up now or wait and see. He was convinced that if he didn’t get set up for MTD his fees would rapidly become worthless.
My opinion, for what it is worth, was that Armageddon was not around the corner, or certainly not the next one and that he should not be spooked into making any rash decisions. We agreed to talk again towards the end of the year once he had given the matter further consideration.
No sooner had the call ended did I switch on the radio only to hear amongst the headlines that Making Tax Digital was being postponed due to the general election. “Hurrah” , I could almost hear the caller shouting from 300 miles away.
“Hurrah” indeed .
When men are struck with toothache they tend to prevaricate and procrastinate in the vain hope that even though the pain is becoming gradually worse or the discomfort is slowly turning to pain. Why is this ? Is it some kind of delusional hard-wiring that us males are created with or is it something more macho ?
I can’t answer that question in spite of being as guilty as the next bloke when it comes to putting off the inevitable trip to the dentist, and as I type I can hear the squealing and grinding noise of metal on enamel. Enough to make one shiver , just like MTD.
But one thing I do know , and that is that the Making Tax Digital will make a comeback in some form or another, even if watered down or fettled somewhat differently. And as sure as day follows night, the changes for the profession will continue to be profound. The plans as they stood were far from perfect and not short of criticism from all the relevant parties with a vested interest, but which government scheme ever was at its launch within further iterations ?
Perhaps the general election was a convenient excuse to kick it into grass which is that bit longer than where we stand in order to get it done properly, but the one thing I am confident about is that the patch of the green stuff is not as long as many of us would like to imagine. Not only that, but those who were not making plans to embrace making tax digital now now are unlikely to be any closer to making plans when the day finally comes and the revised version of MTD finally sees the light of day.
The only pressing question that remains for them is this….will an emergency extraction be required?