Making Tax Digital – “severe headache” for dentists

Alan Suggett, media officer of NASDAL and a partner in UNW LLP, explained, “HMRC has been holding consultations on the Making Tax Digital scheme and these concluded on 7^th November. The aims of the scheme appear to be laudable in terms of simplifying and making the tax system more efficient. However, the dental sector will face specific challenges. In short, it will create a severe headache for the majority of dentists.”

One of the key tenets of the scheme is the submission of quarterly updates to HMRC. This may not present much of an issue to most businesses as they are used to paying VAT on a quarterly basis and preparing monthly management accounts. However, dentists are not registered for VAT and even larger practices do not generally prepare monthly management accounts, or, if they do, these don’t represent a true picture of turnover as such and various adjustments are required at the year end.