Making Tax Digital. Over the past year, that phrase has been used a lot in the tax and accounting world. Confirmed by the Government in July 2020 and taking full effect for Income Tax by April 2026, Making Tax Digital is streamlining the tax return process for landlords and self-employed professionals moving forward. It is set to modernise landlord and self-assessment online tax returns making the process of filing your tax return a lot easier. 

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is an opportunity to improve how landlords and self-employed  professionals manage their finances and interact with tax returns. Even if you're being forced into it by HMRC, as they digitise the tax return process,  our job is to help you to take advantage of the opportunities the new process creates for those looking to file their self-assessment tax return online from now on.

Pre-Populating More of Your Tax Return

Self-assessment affects sole traders, landlords, the self-employed and tradespeople alike, with everyone having the obligation to accurately state your tax position. But filing your self-assessment tax return online can be time consuming and confusing, so it’s no surprise that people find it daunting. We think it's got a reputation for being more scary and difficult than it really is, so we want to make it easier for you! 

That’s why we have developed a system to pre-populate your tax return for you, meaning filing an accurate tax return is even easier through the APARI software. 

The pre-population feature includes both simple and complex information, including basic account details, such as your name, or even specific details about pension income and charitable giving. 

Making Tax Digital should make this whole process even easier for you, and APARI have made simplifying the process our main goal - we want to Make Tax Doable.

Apari and Filing Your Self-Assessment Tax Return Online

Because APARI want to make Making Tax Digital, and completing your tax return under the MTD guidelines, as simple as possible, we are making it even easier to track your income and expenses. Accounting software with built-in calculators, such as APARI, can do the hard work needed to give you an accurate and up-to-date understanding of your rental or business profits.

As well as having to submit basic information via their tax return many of the people caught by MTD also have to submit other information on their tax return as well. This includes employment income, dividend income and pension income. As well as that there are payments that help to reduce your tax bill, including the likes of pension contributions and gift aid payments to charities.

As we've written about previously, HMRC is rolling out MTD modules gradually to support these other types of information. Most modules will be released from April 2021 onwards, allowing the majority of self-assessed taxpayers to join MTD for the 2021-22 tax year. Other modules may be added at a later date, supporting the full roll out of MTD by April 2026. APARI will support everyone that HMRC can.

Apari – Here To Help With Filling Your Self-Assessment Tax Return Online

The Office of Tax Simplification - an independent body that advises the Government – sets standards for companies that interact with the HMRC and deal with MTD. They want to know:

"Whether and in what ways it could be helpful to individuals for different sources of third-party data to be submitted to HMRC on their behalf, exploring any concerns they may have and whether and in what ways these could be overcome."

As a (slightly biased) former employee of the Office of Tax Simplification, I'm optimistic that they will make recommendations that will serve the interests of taxpayers as they get used to the MTD guidelines. For example, they already specifically mention a desire to help people that are eligible for tax reliefs but do not claim them.

At APARI, this is a sentiment we can get behind. Our constant aim is to make it as easy as possible for you to complete your tax return, allowing you to make smarter decisions about your finances.

Want to know more about self-assessment? We created the Ultimate Guide to Self-Assessment Tax Returns for YOU!