Research and analysis

Agents’ views towards Making Tax Digital for business and the Single Financial Account

The main aim of this research was to find out tax agents’ responses to these 2 new digital services.

• From: HM Revenue & Customs
• Published: 22 October 2018

Documents

Agents’ views towards Making Tax Digital for business and the Single Financial Account

Ref: HMRC Research Report 508

PDF, 765 KB, 42 pages

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Details

The primary aim of this research was to explore tax agents’ responses to new digital services – Making Tax Digital for business (MTDfB) and the Single Financial Account (SFA) – and to help HMRC understand how to effectively engage agents with MTDfB.

The research is based on 36 in-depth interviews and 4 focus groups with smaller agents (sole traders and micro-businesses) from March to July 2017.

Most agents were highly engaged with digital technology, with many utilising software to prepare tax returns, and most agent’s clients were engaged with digital technology for record keeping.

While most agents understood the general premise of MTDfB, many did not feel they had a detailed knowledge of MTDfB. The agents were generally positive on the concept of the SFA.

This will inform agent engagement strategies employed by HMRC as MTDfB and the SFA develop.

Published 22 October 2018