Making Tax Digital

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In the same way that 2010 Ryder Cup spectators sang....two Molinaris, we've got two Molinaris.....UK self-employed taxpayers can chant...two tax reporting systems, we've got two tax reporting systems.....the waste of public funds is monumental.

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AI latest figures...Poll Tax 2?:

65 per cent of people are still not registered for Making Tax Digital – Is mass non-compliance inevitable?
26 May 2026

Initial Mandate Pool: 864,000 sole traders, landlords, and self-employed individuals.Registered Participants: Reports indicate only 81,000 to 219,000 have successfully signed up.Unregistered Taxpayers: Between 65% and 90% of the first cohort have still not completed their registration

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By ralan
18th Jun 2026 17:57
We had 2 clients in the Beta testing.
First one has been updated for figures to agree with accounts we prepared and input bank interest and pension payments.
What a farce we had trying to log into the clients details on HMRC site, confusing instructions from software supplier then when we do get in the "Summary" does not give much detail, shows interest figure but pension payments do not show net figure paid only the grossed up amount.

Shows Class 4 NIC but lo and behold there is no Class 2 NIC figure given and HMRC were supposed to be sorting this out last year.

What a shambles

Submitting 2026 Tax Return through our usual software for this and other client and see whether HMRC pick up that we have not used MTDfIT

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Cameron
May
Johnson
Truss
Sunak
Starmer

A list of UK Prime Ministers seen off by MTD4IT. The public do not/will not like this complex, expensive and time-consuming policy.

Will Burnham wake up and smell the coffee?

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By Tornado
24th Jun 2026 15:51
I think there are NO benefits to Customers at all from MTD.

I am still trying to work out what our £2,000 million plus has actually bought us.


Replying to Tornado:
Rob Swan

24th Jun 2026 16:15
"...what our £2,000 million plus has actually bought us." - it depends:
Taxpayers: Something between chaos and grief!
HMRC: New toys and shiny things.
Fujitsu etc: Profits and bonuses.

You just have to look at it from 'their' perspective. See - it's wonderful!!

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By kevinringer
26th Jun 2026 14:26
MTD is the HS2 of the tax world: it is years behind schedule, will be a fraction of what was originally planned, costing multiple times the original cost, and controversial.

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By FactChecker
24th Jun 2026 12:31
OK, here are just a few examples from a quick search:

* 22 April 2025 - James Murray (Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury):
"Digital record-keeping will deliver time-saving benefits for taxpayers"

* same date - Craig Ogilvie (HMRC’s Director of Making Tax Digital):
"MTD for Income Tax will make it easier for self-employed people and landlords to stay on top of their tax affairs and help ensure they pay the right amount of tax"
... and added ...
"These digital requirements will help businesses save time through more efficient record-keeping, reduce errors in tax calculations, and provide a clearer picture of their tax obligations throughout the year"

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Will Andy Burnham stop the lies or just more of the same? Trust needs to be earned.

By FactChecker
24th Jun 2026 12:47
But even ignoring for now all the mis-directions of the last 10 years, the best indication that HMRC still isn't listening, doesn't understand and can't be trusted ... can be found in their recent "How Making Tax Digital works" campaign ... https://makingtaxdigital.campaign.gov.uk/how-making-tax-digital-works/

Presented in TikTok style for those with minimal attention span, it includes:

* "you’ll use recognised bookkeeping or accounting software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – such as an app on your phone or laptop. This will make tax admin easier in the long run as MTD software can tally up invoices for you."
[how does the 1st sentence lead to the 2nd one (as if no other software can add up?]

* "You won’t pay four tax bills a year; the deadline for paying your tax will still be 31 January"
... and ...
* "The new system won’t change the way you pay Income Tax or the dates you need to pay it"
[yet another of those 'denials' which the new consultation proves was always a lie]


Replying to FactChecker:

By Rgab1947
26th Jun 2026 09:39
On point one the local plumber is very keen to know his tax and is glued to his phone to make sure of that. Yeah really.

On the other points just barefaced lies.

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MP Murray who gave MTD4IT the green light is now in charge of the health budget...is that sensible?...not if you agree with the analysis below.

By Duggimon
26th Jun 2026 09:41
Exactly! How much of HMRC's tax revenue comes from self employed people or landlords who are not VAT registered and who earn over £20,000 from self employment or property?

Is it enough to justify this spending on a system which already doesn't achieve a bare minimum instead of spending it on compliance and investigative staff?

How much extra tax do they think MTD will bring in? I struggle to see how it will bring even 1% of the money invested.


Replying to Duggimon:

By Tax Dragon
26th Jun 2026 10:27
It's not just the money is it? How much of their own time have HMRC wasted on this? Time that could have been used raising enquiries, investigating COVID payments, or even just answering the phone!


Replying to Tax Dragon:

By FactChecker
26th Jun 2026 13:22
Per your earlier: "What is the total tax take from qualifying MTD income, both in absolute terms and as a fraction of the UK's income tax take?"

I don't know ... but (cynic alert) feel that this can only be because it was decided not to publish such basic data.

Across private sector organisations of many sizes, *any* 'project proposal' that arrived on my desk was always accompanied by a 'project justification' paper (other labels available).
[if not so accompanied, it was automatically rejected until the errant paper arrived]

And your questions are amongst the most fundamental ones that I'd expect to be addressed (up front, within the 'management summary') ...
... in plain English, 'why is this needed and what's the envisaged payback?'

Only if that step-one stacked up conceptually, would we move on to the complexities of opportunity costs, competing priorities and of course a realistic 'risk factor' value.

So you're spot on with your "It's not just the money is it? How much of their own time have HMRC wasted on this?" (which requires a degree of self-awareness that the body corporate of HMRC is not in the habit of displaying) ...
... but it's the lack of the step-one justification that holed the project before it even got the green light (a decade ago).

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But help is at hand for Whitehall’s hard-pressed cash collectors with the arrival of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax. The government’s much-delayed flagship tax transformation is now live, and last year, Financial Secretary to the Treasury Lord Livermore told Parliament that MTD is expected to generate a much-needed £1.95bn in additional tax revenue by 2029/30. But will it?

Not according to Lucy Cohen, co-founder of accounting firm Mazuma and Association of Accounting Technicians president. As part of her doctoral studies, Cohen analysed 20 years of data from her firm, cross-matching it against HMRC's assumptions for introducing MTD. Her modelling points in a different direction

“It’s my view that the current form of MTD will add between £670m and £800m to the tax gap,” she told AccountingWEB.