Chloe Smith working hard for local businesses over Quarterly Digital Tax Return concerns

Chloe Smith, Member of Parliament for Norwich North, has written to Treasury Minister, David Gauke, on behalf of constituents, seeking clarification on the proposals for quarterly digital tax returns.

 

Chloe has been contacted by the Federation for Small Businesses and a number of constituents who own their own businesses with concerns that the new proposed system could be overly burdensome and could cause increased financial costs.

 

The FSB is keen to see testing and piloting for the new platform for the digital tax returns, an issue which Chloe has raised with Gauke, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

 

Chloe has asked what contingencies will be put in place should the new digital platform fail, and what help will be available to small businesses to comply with the quarterly tax return requirement.

 

Finally, Chloe has sought clarification from the Minister on the likelihood of cost to businesses resulting from needing new software to comply with the proposed new regulations.

 

Chloe comments:

 

“I have been contacted by small business owners in Norwich, with the help of the Federation of Small Businesses nationally, who have expressed concerns about the impact of the new proposals to introduce quarterly digital tax returns. I will always raise constituents' concerns in Parliament wherever reasonable and so I have asked for assurances from the Minister responsible that small businesses will be supported in this change. Small firms are very important to the Norwich economy."

 

The Government has said that it is committed to reducing burdens for taxpayers and building a transparent and accessible tax system fit for the digital age. More than two million small businesses are already using HMRC digital accounts, and digital accounts for individual taxpayers have been introduced in 2015. During 2016, every individual and small business will have access to their own secure digital tax account, which will function like an online bank account, enabling them to interact with HMRC digitally. The Government’s proposals are designed to make tax easier, transforming tax administration into a personalised service, tailored to the needs of each taxpayer. By 2020, businesses and individual taxpayers will be able to register, file, pay and update their information at any time of the day or night, and at any point in the year, to suit them. For the vast majority, there will be no need to fill in an annual tax return.

 

The Government, in this year’s Budget, has also made further steps to support small businesses, including reforming business rates, which will see 600,000 small businesses no longer having to pay business rates at all. Corporation tax has also be cut again – benefitting one million companies in Britain. When the Conservatives came to power in 2010 Corporation Tax was 28%. The Government cut it to 20% in the last Parliament and in the summer set out a plan to cut it to 18%. The Chancellor has decided to go even further, with the rate set to fall to 17% in 2020.