Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) delayed

The Government has announced in a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) that MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) will be introduced a year later, in the tax year beginning April 2024. This is in recognition of the challenges faced by many UK businesses and their representatives, as the country emerges from the pandemic over the last year and having listened to stakeholder feedback.

General partnerships will not be required to join MTD for ITSA until the tax year beginning in April 2025. It will be confirmed at a later date when all other types of partnerships will be required to join.

The new system of penalties for the late filing and late payment of tax for ITSA, announced in March 2021, will accordingly be introduced for those mandated for MTD for ITSA in the tax year beginning from April 2024, and for all other ITSA customers in the tax year beginning in April 2025.

In addition, the Government has laid Regulations in Parliament setting out the design and scope of MTD for ITSA, in order to help those impacted by the changes to prepare, and for their representatives to develop their own support and guidance.

Alongside the Regulations, we have published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) setting out the projected benefit and cost impacts of MTD for ITSA, as well as a Policy Paper to help different businesses understand what their transition to MTD could look like in more detail.