Small firms' petition for Government to scrap PTA plans rebuffed

A petition calling for the Government to scrap plans that will require small businesses and the self-employed to carry out quarterly reporting has been rebuffed.

Over 100,000 small businesses have signed an online petition requesting the Government to reconsider the changes that the new Personal Tax Account (PTA) service will bring.

The petition stated that the plans for PTAs will mean that small businesses will have to file a minimum of four tax returns a year.

However, a Government response to the petition stated that the Making Tax Digital service will not require businesses to file multiple returns, but will mean that firms will have to update HMRC regarding their tax affairs at least quarterly via the new PTA system.

The response also claimed that, through the use of this system, the process of submitting annual tax returns will become less burdensome and time-consuming.

It went on to state that the new quarterly updates will not involve the complexity of a tax return.

The response also revealed that a large number of taxpayers have requested to gain more certainty regarding their tax bill, and would prefer not to wait until the end of the year to discover the state of their taxes.

Additionally, the reforms will potentially make it easier for taxpayers to keep track of their tax affairs, and aim to reduce the amounts of mistakes made when filling in tax returns.