Making Tax Digital (MTD) is a government initiative designed to transform the tax system and to end the use of the tax return for a great many taxpayers. It is intended to make it easier for businesses and individuals to maintain records and to get their tax correct. Under MTD, businesses will be required to keep records digitally and make a quarterly return of data to HMRC.

MTD is set to come into force in April 2019 and will apply for businesses with annual sales over the VAT threshold of £85,000. If MTD applies to you, you’ll have to use digital tools to keep records of your income and costs. Currently you may use the free Government Gateway for entering your quarterly tax return, but this is due to close and from April 2019 you’ll need to use software to submit your VAT returns electronically.

Advanced have confirmed that Making Tax Digital is being treated as priority.  They are working alongside HMRC to provide customers with a solution which will assist their compliance with MTD. We are still waiting for full details from Advanced regarding MTD for Exchequer, however they have confirmed that they are producing an application – the Business Tax Portal.  It is expected to be available for release in early 2019.

The application will enable customers to submit VAT returns digitally via the HMRC API as required under the new legislation and is being developed with collaboration with HMRC.

The MTD module will be chargeable, but costs are at present unknown.

Detailed plans are still being finalized and we will keep you updated as and when further information becomes available. Please note that the Business Tax Portal and MTD software will not work with any Exchequer versions earlier than 2018. 


If you need to upgrade to the latest version of Exchequer, we would urge you to contact us as soon as possible.

If you would like further information about MTD, please email us or contact us on 01707 607100.

Useful links

Overview of Making Tax Digital (Source: gov.uk)
HMRC VAT Notice 700/22: Making Tax Digital for VAT (Source: gov.uk)
MTD: Consultations – A collection of consultations around MTD reform (Source: gov.uk)