HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) last physical stamp duty press machine will be retired this year as the authority moves into a new digital age, it has been announced.
According to the tax authority, the last five stamp presses are used for transactions that still required physical stamps – such as duty paid on shares purchased on a stock transfer form.
But the coronavirus pandemic made physical stamping impossible, forcing the regulator to transition to a new electronic process.
Having worked efficiently throughout the Covid-19 lockdown, HMRC said it sees no viable reason to return to the traditional physical stamping approach.
Commenting on the decommissioning process, Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Deputy CEO and Second Permanent Secretary, said: “This is a significant day in HMRC’s history and marks a permanent change in the way that we operate.
“The new digital process operated well during national lockdown when it was much easier to use virtual rather than physical stamping. As this effectively amounted to a successful trial it convinced us that this was the right time to end the process of physical stamping and decommission our presses.”
It means almost every function within the department is now electronic – or is set to be in the future – after the launch of Making Tax Digital on 01 April 2019.
Since this date, almost all VAT-registered businesses with a taxable turnover above the VAT threshold of £85,000 have been required to keep digital accounting records and submit quarterly electronic returns using MTD-compliant software, such as Xero or QuickBooks.
From April 2022, this legislation will extend to all VAT-registered businesses, and from April 2021, MTD for Income Tax will follow. MTD for Corporation Tax, meanwhile, is expected to be launched in April 2024.
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