The Treasury has dropped more than half of the clauses from the Finance Bill, removing 72 of the 136 clauses in an attempt to hasten the Bill’s progress through Parliament before dissolution ahead of the General Election. One of these 72 ‘dumped’ clauses is ‘Making Tax Digital’. Many in the business and accountancy worlds have welcomed this.
Nick Paterno, Managing Partner at McBrides Chartered Accountants in Sidcup said: “This is welcome news for business, especially small business who would have had to have borne a huge administrative burden with their tax affairs if ‘Making Tax Digital’ had gone ahead this year. The plan was controversial and many of us in the accountancy profession believe it hadn’t been properly worked through and needed fuller consultation and Parliamentary debate.”
Another measure removed included the planned cut to the annual tax-free allowance on dividend income (which had only been introduced by the Conservatives a year ago) from £5,000 to £2,000. That will please many company owners and private investors alike assuming the measure is not reintroduced by a subsequent government before the planned date of the reduction of 6 April 2018.
It’s unclear yet whether the Conservative party will include the dropped changes from the Finance Bill in their manifesto.
Nick Paterno added: “We hope that any future government will give a wider consultation to the idea of making tax digital and will consult fully with business to understand the costly administrative burden of introducing multiple return dates.”