The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has welcomed a report from the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, which calls on the Government to delay the implementation of mandatory digital tax reporting.

In the report, the Committee states that the proposed timetable of April 2018 for most businesses to be reporting tax digitally is over ambitious, and could result in unnecessary costs and administrative burdens for businesses.

Other recommendations in the report include:

• abandoning plans to introduce an initial reporting threshold of £10,000 and instead working on the basis of the VAT threshold (£83,000);

• a targeted information campaign to businesses to ensure that they are all aware of the changes to reporting requirements; and

• ensuring that adequate guidance is available for taxpayers on the appropriate software for their business.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “In our submission to the Government’s consultation on Making Tax Digital last year, we raised concerns that the timetable for implementation of the plans was too short, and that pushing the proposals onto convenience stores too soon will result in heavy cost and administrative burdens.

“We are pleased that the Treasury Select Committee has reached the same conclusions about Making Tax Digital, and we will continue to engage with HMRC on ensuring that retailers can transition to the new reporting procedures without any adverse effects on their business.”

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