.png)
.png)
It is always worth seeing what HMRC officials have to say when appearing before a parliamentary select committee. These days things are much calmer than they were a few years ago and we no longer expect angry exchanges or fireworks, but we can still learn a lot from what is said. We will be publishing a summary of the hearing next week but I wanted here to mention the exchanges about making tax digital (MTD) – always a topic of key concern to us all.
An MP, referring to MTD, asked: ‘What does the end look like and when will we see it?’ Jim Harra did not give a date. Instead he made it clear, in a way that I have not seen articulated before, that HMRC sees MTD as a process which has no end point but which will continuously evolve. I can imagine some readers gnashing their teeth, but I was encouraged by what was said. If, and it is always if, the programme can gradually evolve in a way which brings people with it rather than impose everything all at once in a big bang, there is a much greater chance of widescale acceptance.
The UK has made less progress along the digital agenda than some other jurisdictions. One can sense HMRC’s frustration at this, but every regime has a different starting point and different ways of doing things, so I am not sure that a direct read across internationally is particularly useful.
It is right that the UK is making this digital tax journey. But making the journey sufficiently attractive so that people will want to embark on it, is surely more effective as a long-term strategy than forcing people to journey to somewhere they see no merit in visiting.
