This week's opinion

The latest report from the House of Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee on Making Tax Digital makes depressing reading. Not because of the quality of the report but because it shows all too clearly that nothing much has changed since the committee last reported on this subject in 2017. As the lords say: ‘We have been struck with a sense of déjà vu throughout our enquiry.’ My reaction when reading the report was frustration at how HMRC has still failed to make the case that MTD will reduce the tax gap and bring efficiencies for taxpayers. There is simply no meeting of minds on any of this between HMRC and large swathes of the tax industry. The committee recommends a one-year delay before mandation of MTD for VAT and postponing any further implementation of MTD until at least 2022.

I remain supportive of the principle of bringing digital technology to...