Taxing transformations
Remember the plans for quarterly tax returns? Simon Whaley finds out what writers need to do now, in preparation
Simon Whaley
If there’s one piece of writing most of us detest it’s completing our tax return. So when George Osborne announced in November 2015 the Making Tax Digital scheme, whereby self-employed people, such as writers, may need to complete quarterly tax returns, many feared the worst. How much of our future writing time would be gobbled up by the need to be creative with numbers? However, plans for this were dropped from the Finance Bill that went through parliament just prior to last year’s general election. But this tax story hasn’t been buried like a murder writer’s latest victim. It’s simply sleeping, ready to reawaken in the near future. As writers, we need to start taking steps now.
Barry Kernon is a consultant at the top 25 accountants HW Fisher & Company. He and his team have been advising authors for many years, helping them manage their finances in the most efficient way possible. He says the digitisation of tax collection, and the completion of more frequent tax returns, is still on the cards.
‘The plan,’ says Barry, ‘is that quarterly digital reporting will apply to all businesses, and those with property lettings, with the exception of those whose income falls below a certain level. This level has yet to be decided upon.
The only published figure is the £85,000 turnover which, if exceeded, means that those VAT registered traders with a turnover above this level will start digital submissions from April 2019.’