The deferral of MTD for ITSA provides an opportunity for review

On 19 December the financial secretary to the Treasury Victoria Atkins announced a further delay to making tax digital (MTD) for income tax self assessment (ITSA). The expectation that an announcement was imminent had been building over the preceding weeks: there was simply too much to resolve for there to have been any realistic chance of keeping to April 2024.

I remain firmly of the view that digitalisation will continue to transform tax administration and I support HMRC’s aspiration to make the UK tax system one of the most digitally advanced in the world. To achieve that aspiration however it is necessary to reflect on what has led to this further delay in the roll out of MTD and on how best to achieve its core objectives.

What has changed

The start date for MTD for ITSA has been pushed back from April 2024 to April...