Farmers told to find Internet friends to do VAT

It was announced recently that from April all VAT returns for businesses turning over one hundred thousand pounds or more must be filed online, which is going to prove a problem for those that do not have broadband or Internet access such as farmers in rural areas.

The tax office recently announced that as of April any business that has an annual turnover of more than one hundred thousand pounds will have to file their VAT returns online. However, this flawed plan has not taken into account that many businesses, such as farmers in rural areas where there is limited or no broadband access, may not have the facilities to be able to do this.

Recently the Farmers Union of Wales pointed out the fact that many farmers living in such areas would not have the necessary access or facilities to file their VAT returns online, but this was met with instruction from the tax office that those farmers that were affected should find themselves a friend that does have broadband or Internet access to file their VAT return for them.

HMRC said that it was not necessary to have broadband in order to file the VAT returns online, and insists that this is to be the new protocol despite the fact that unions have stated that many people in these areas are not used to using computers, do not have access to computers, and would find the whole process extremely difficult.

One union official stated: “It’s obvious they don’t realise the problems facing farmers and other businesses in rural communities. Also, the age structure of the industry is such that lots of us grew up before the widespread use of computers. We’re going to struggle.”

Source – BBC