Summer’s on its way…and so’s your first quarterly tax submission – are you ready?

It’s been a long time coming, but – dare we say it – it looks as though summer is finally here.  

But before you break out the barbecue and beachball, beware. This holiday season could also see you doing battle with balance sheets; negotiating the first reporting deadline under the new Making Tax Digital programme. 

Just to recap, Making Tax Digital (MTD) is a HMRC initiative requiring unincorporated landlords with a qualifying income of over £50,000 to keep digital records and use approved software to submit quarterly tax updates. 

The first phase of MTD launched on April 6th, with the first quarterly submission due by 7th August – slap-bang in the middle of the holiday period.  

With that in mind it makes sense to start early and get prepared now.  

How do I get ready?

Unless you have extremely complex ownership arrangements there is no reason why, with proper processes in place – you can’t manage your reporting obligations yourself. 

However, key to this will be real time admin. 

You also need to take a long hard look at the systems you have in place when it comes to your accounting and asking if they up to the task in hand. 

Welcome or not, shoeboxes of receipts and handwritten ledgers are no longer going to cut it when it comes to tackling your tax returns, and maintaining digital records is going to be essential when it comes to complying with the new rules.  

Here’s where we come in. 

Over the last few years, we have invested significant resources in developing our Portfolio property management system, to support you through the transition to Making Tax Digital. 

Our NRLA Portfolio Plus offer now allows you to use Open Banking to securely import income and expenditure data, which is then categorised according to your properties and businesses ready for MTD. You can also use the base tier of Portfolio to categorise transactions compliantly.  

As this uses live bank feeds and provides real time tracking it should make mistakes much less likely, and considerably speed up the production of quarterly reports and annual returns – giving you more time to enjoy the sunshine.  

Even better, if you upgrade to Portfolio Pro, you can submit your quarterly reports direct from the site, which is now fully integrated with HMRC. 

Will I be affected in the future?

For those of you not falling under the remit of HMRC this year it is worth looking ahead, with MTD to be rolled out to those with a qualifying income of £30,000 next year and planned for incomes over £20,000 the year after. 

And while there is no current commitment to extend it below that threshold – this could change in the future and getting your ducks in a row now will ensure that in the months and years to come quarterly reporting will be a walk in the park. 

For more information on Portfolio – and step-by-step guidance on how to sign up,  visit nrla.org.uk/portfolio  

You can find our free and comprehensive ⁠Making Tax Digital (MTD) guide here and can also take advantage of our exclusive MTD eClassroom course, which runs through everything you need to be MTD ready.