Mastodawn

As part of 'Making Tax Digital' the UK will soon force people to use proprietary software to file certain types of tax return. If you disagree, think people should have control over their data, that HMRC alone should be in charge of HMRC's job, that you shouldn't have to pay random companies just to pay your own taxes, I suggest you sign this UK e-petition:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/769610

#UK #UKPol #software

Petition: Create a government-owned, free software for Making Tax Digital (MTD)

With the roll-out of Making Tax Digital going ahead, HMRC must provide an in-house, government-developed, fully-functional software that allows easy and confident compliance with MTD. Self-employed people should not be obliged to hand data to private companies.

Petitions - UK Parliament and UK Government

Phil M0OFX 3d ago

@LonM Oh wonderful, because this exact strategy worked so well for the US...

@philpem That was my exact thought when I first heard about MTD

Neil Shadrach 2d ago

@rhysw Cawson nhw wared â'r ffurflen TAW ar gyfer busnesau rhai blynyddoedd yn ôl gan eu gorfodi nhw i ddefnyddio meddalwedd trydydd parti yn lle

@NeilShadrach Dydy o ddim yn iawn. Roedd fy swydd llawn amser cyntaf i, 26 mlynedd yn ôl, gyda Chylild y Wlad ar linell gymorth Talu Wrth Ennill ar gyfer cyflogwyr bychain, ble byddai'r mwyafrif helaeth yn ei wneud â llaw o hyd bryd hynny. Roedd tipyn o bapurach yn mynd allan at bob un newydd, felly byddai arbedion hynny yn talu am unrhyw feddalwedd agored syml-ish yn rhad ac am ddim i'r rhai sydd ei eisiau heddiw.

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Andy Piper 2d ago

@LonM it is a worryingly-small number of signatures so far. I wonder how many folks think it doesn't apply to them, and higher earners have an accountant they pay anyway... grr. Have put my name against it! Very annoying situation.

@andypiper It is low, but to be fair it only opened for signatures 2 days ago. I hope as more people share, it will gain more momentum.

Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE 2d ago

@LonM For VAT they promised that third party free software would be available.

It wasn't, at least not that I could find at the time I needed it.

And the process went from:

(before) Copy five numbers from you accounting software into a web page.

(after) Create a spreadsheet. Copy five numbers from your accounting software into the spreadsheet. Quite likely this has to be done differently each quarter. Run the not-free MTD third party software. Type lots of other stuff into it, once you've understood the new jargon you didn't have to worry about before. Jump through various other hoops.

Not only is the new system more work for the punter (who would rather be spending their time doing other things, like for example actually running their business) but as there's more typing and copying involved it clearly has INCREASED scope for error, which is precisely what the marketing blurb for MTD claims to be there to REDUCE.

@TimWardCam Yep. Lots of busywork for not much gain.

Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE 2d ago

@LonM I couldn't see any gain to anybody. Cost to me, higher risk (of bad data) to HMRC.

Adrian McEwen 2d ago

@LonM Thanks for creating this, I've signed it.

I didn't ever hear back after emailing their "administrative burden" survey to raise those points last year

https://mastodon.me.uk/@amcewen/114868253499727998

@amcewen I didn't create this petition, but thanks for signing it!

If enough people sign it'll force them to give a decent reply, and if that's lacking we can then contact MPs and push for a better response.

Adrian McEwen 2d ago

@LonM ah, well, thanks for promoting it 😁

Offbeatmammal 2d ago

@LonM oh crap, is this H&R Block and their ilk lobbying to become a gateway to a service that can, and should, exist perfectly well without them for the vast majority of people. The Govt should prepare your tax return and you either approve it, or submit corrections, job done.

@Offbeatmammal Absolutely! I do wonder if someone in gov has made a few "friends with bonuses" through MTD.

vicarvernon 2d ago

@LonM HMRC already forces Ministers of Religion to use propriety software for electronic submission of tax returns.

signed and boosted

As a small solo trader I can't afford to buy expensive software (from USA companies) to file my taxes in the UK.

matthewcroughan 2d ago

It only says free software, which the government will not understand to mean FOSS

@matthewcroughan This is true, and unfortunate. However, if there is *a* software owned by the government, we could then additionally lobby them to make it open source. There's at least a chance, vs a bunch of fully proprietary stuff that will never ever be opened.

NormanDunbar 2d ago

@LonM Singed.

Derek McAuley 2d ago

@LonM I agree with the principle of no proprietary SW, but their slightly shit website has worked for years - I’d rather they just crafted a website with the new functionality they think they need.

@drdrmc I totally agree. This new data collection doesn't make sense given it used to be possible to file through the site. But seeing as they've decided and committed to this approach I would much rather use something official that isn't going to disappear or start charging me