Most accountants are not ready for MTD ITSA

Many accountancy firms (70%) feel they are not well prepared for the introduction of making tax digital for income tax self assessment (MTD ITSA) according ICAS.

The survey of ICAS practice firms from across the UK found that only around half (53%) of firms have already adopted software for MTD ITSA.

David Menzies ICAS director of practice said: ‘With only 18 months until MTD ITSA becomes a requirement the state of unpreparedness can be largely attributed to the slow progress of HMRC’s MTD ITSA pilot project which remains open to only a very small number of individuals. Technical difficulties and a lack of expansion are hampering firms and taxpayers who will ideally want to have a full year bedding in period before the mandatory implementation date.’

The survey also found that balancing workload compliance and regulation and economic uncertainty are the top challenges...