Recommendation 23

Overall, HMRC’s latest figures indicated that if mandatory requirements were extended to those with incomes above £10,000, then business taxpayers could have to pay 46 Qq 64–65 47 Q 78; C&AG’s Report, paras 3.12–3.13 48 Qq 90–91 49 Q 65; PTD0002, Rossmartin Tax Consultancy Limited, 19 June 2023; PTD0006, Written evidence submitted by the Association of Taxation Technicians, 19 June 2023; PTD0007, Written evidence submitted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales, 19 June 2023; PTD0008, Written evidence submitted by the Chartered Institute of Taxation, 19 June 2023; PTD0011, Written evidence submitted by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, 19 June 2023, PTD0012, Written evidence submitted by Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, 19 June 2023 50 Qq 25, 45, 76 C&AG’s Report, para 3.31 51 Q79 52 Qq 79, 90 Progress with Making Tax Digital 17 a total of £1.9 billion to comply with the new arrangements over the first five years. This includes: £102 million customer costs it included in its cost-benefit analysis in its March 2023 programme business case; £640 million of customer costs it excluded from its cost- benefit analysis; and a provisional estimate of £1.2 billion for customers with incomes between £10,000 and £30,000.53 HMRC recognised the additional burden on customers that the programme creates, but told us that it expected everyone to comply with their tax obligations. It says that those who met the threshold for mandatory record keeping will have to either “grin and bear it” and do it themselves, or pay someone else to do it for them, but that it hoped that the software products available will make this easier for people than it otherwise would have been.54 53 C&AG’s Report, para 3.18 and Figure 7 54 Q 98 18 Progress with Making Tax Digital 3 The future delivery and remaining risks of Making Tax Digital HMRC’s revised timetable and contingency