Recommendation 30

HMRC’s Making Tax Digital initiative is central to its 10-year modernisation strategy. It requires taxpayers to keep tax records and submit returns digitally. HMRC introduced Making Tax Digital for VAT first. The largest VAT traders provided digital returns in 2019, and the smaller ones are being required to do so by April 2022.54 HMRC now plans to extend Making Tax Digital to income tax self assessment. From April 2024, 4.2 million taxpayers with business and/or property income over £10,000, including small landlords and sole traders, will be required to submit digital returns each quarter. HMRC had intended to introduce this extension to Making Tax Digital from April 2023 but decided to delay by a year because of the impact of the pandemic and stakeholder feedback.55