More than half a million taxpayers in the first wave of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax have yet to register, with less than 60 days to go before the first quarterly filing deadline.
Craig Ogilvie, director of MTD at HMRC, confirmed on LinkedIn that 336,000 taxpayers have signed up so far. That leaves around 528,000 landlords, self-employed people and sole traders still to join the system before the 7 August deadline.
The first MTD for Income Tax cohort is expected to cover 864,000 taxpayers. Based on HMRC’s latest figures, around 61% have not yet registered.
Despite the gap, Ogilvie said sign-ups are increasing, with around 2,500 taxpayers registering each week. He urged taxpayers not to leave it too late, saying: “Now is the time to sign up.”
HMRC’s previous update in May showed 303,000 sign-ups, indicating that around 33,000 more taxpayers had registered in under a month. Even if that rate continues, nearly half a million people will still need to take action.
HMRC has said it will not apply financial penalties for failing to sign up in the first year. However, this is only a temporary measure.
Jonathan Hawkes, HMRC deputy director of MTD, recently told seminar delegates that HMRC is taking a pragmatic approach, saying: “It is all about good enough… We are not expecting perfection.”
That approach will soon be tested, with the first quarterly update due on 7 August.
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