Whilst I am not saying that HMRC's plan to make small businesses file tax returns quarterly is a good or bad idea, I do wonder how much research some people do before they put out a response for a bit of publicity.
Moaning about the cost of "expensive digital accounting software" shows he hasn't done his research for some time.
Quickbooks starts at £2.99 per month and Xero isn't much more.
I defy him to find a small business owner who is paying their book-keeper less than that to do the calculations the software will do. Even if they are doing their own book-keeping, I guarantee this type of software will help them. It takes me four minutes to file my quarterly VAT return using Xero - and most of that is spent finding my government gateway username and password! The timenand money saved can then by put to good use running the business
According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), small firms make up 99.3 per cent of all private sector companies. The FSB’s chairman Mike Cherry claimed that the new tax rules would force SMEs to use costly accounting tools. ‘Substantial’ burden for small firms Cherry said: “Forcing small firms to pay for expensive digital accounting software so they must submit extra tax returns is not going to help anyone. “It will simply add to the cost of doing business in the UK. These proposals will also substantially increase administrative burdens – particularly for the smallest businesses.”
