[GNC] UK VAT and "Making Tax Digital"

[David Cousens]

Peter 

According to the website there is no requirement that all of the functions
can be done from inside a single program.  E.g.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-notice-70022-making-tax-digital-for-vat/vat-notice-70022-making-tax-digital-for-vat#para-3-2

"HMRC expects that there will be software products available that will
perform all of the functions listed above. Some software programs will not
be able to perform all of these functions by themselves. For example, a
spreadsheet or other software product that is capable of recording and
preserving digital records may not be able to perform the other 2 functions
listed above, but can still be a component of functional compatible software
if it is used in conjunction with one or more programs that do perform those
functions."

The  paragraph following that on Digital Links is also instructive in that
cut and paste is not permitted. Since CSV and or XML links are valid i.e.
export of an XML or CSV file with the required data from GnuCash to a
program which implements the API and can import the XML file and communicate
with HMRC is likely to be the simplest route. The problem is of course that
neither the XML or CSV export of the required tax data exists. If there is
an existing linking program capable of importing XML/CSV data and
communicating it to HMRC, then it would be an obvious choice to target and
create XML/CSV output for to match its input requirements. The obvious
candidate to start from would be the existing Tax Reports and create an XML
file as a secondary output from the creation of the Tax Report and have it
selectable in the tax report options. The current tax report does have an
export in txf format which may also be importable into a suitable  linking
program if that is available

For GnuCash to do this requires someone with the development expertise and
an interest in the problem, i.e. most likely a user with development
expertise who lives in the UK since this requirement is unique to HMRC and
the UK. The ATO in Australia allows us to cut and paste data into a web
portal on their site  in addition to uploading data from business enabled
software directly.

Some of the digital recording requirements would appear to be met by the
ability to associate  scanned copies of external records
(invoice/bills/receipts etc) with specific transactions in GnuCash however
there may be problems associated with the storage location of such files not
being in the GnuCash data file itself. It may be sufficient to have a
directory containing the images in a subdirectory of the directory
containing the data file.

David Cousens



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David Cousens
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