MTD light touch

FSB: ‘Light-touch enforcement’ of MTD needed The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has urged Chancellor Philip Hammond to recommit to “light-touch enforcement” of Making Tax Digital (MTD), which comes into force on April 1. The call comes after an FSB poll of 746 small businesses found that 50% are not yet ready to comply with the scheme, with 27% yet to start preparations for MTD and 23% having received quotes for the required software but yet to purchase it. The survey also shows that just 3% of firms were involved in a pilot rollout of the initiative. Claire Reading, FSB development manager for South Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and the Humber, has called for Mr Hammond to “double down on his commitment to light-touch enforcement,” adding that small business owners “shouldn’t be punished for honest mistakes, made more likely by a rushed HMRC roll-out.” She also notes that firms “are finding it far more difficult, time-consuming and expensive to become compliant than was predicted by HMRC.”