Making Tax Digital is a miserable example of creeping state control
In the hands of an incompetent authority, computer software can become a tool of persecution
According to HMRC: “Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is a new way for sole traders and landlords to report their income and expenses to HMRC.”
That is not true. MTD, which came into effect today is not a way. It is the way, the only way legally permitted.
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It insists that I make tax and expenses returns once a quarter instead of once a year. It also insists that I still file an annual return as well. I make that five tax operations, instead of one; therefore, roughly, three times more work for me or perhaps a doubling of the bill from my accountant. MTD demands that our returns be submitted only by using MTD-compliant software, so that’s another expense.
This change is a symptom of how the digital age, after its initial, beautiful, youthful freedom 30 years ago, has been captured by middle-aged bureaucrats and used against the rest of us.
The famous Post Office scandal revealed how a computer programme, in the hands of an incompetent authority, can become a tool of persecution. High-street banks provide another example. They discovered that digital banking meant they could forsake the high street and become nowhere banks, interposing the computer between themselves and their customers. They knew that their computers could out-power yours or mine, and thus put their interests first.
There is something particularly dangerous about the state’s computer power in relation to tax. The citizen’s duty is to render a truthful account of earnings. This should not give the state the right to scrutinise everyone’s transactions digitally at every moment.
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The effect will be to allow governments to snoop on all businesses, not just for cheating, but in everything they do. Anyone who says, “The innocent have nothing to fear” has no idea about how governments work.
Another danger, of course, is that any national system could be cyber-attacked, blocked, taken down, or suffer power-cuts. If lawful business is a hostage to government technical validation, it could find itself incapable of trading, for reasons far beyond its control.
The function of a free market would then be controlled by a single government digital entity. How could that possibly be a good idea?
The Telegraph: continue reading
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