Business, Tax & Customs

HM Revenue & Customs

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Businesses that want to make older, or bespoke accounting systems MTD compliant, may
need to use bridging software to link their system to HMRC and to submit information.

The ‘available now’ section of our Software Choices page, makes clear which products
provide bridging functionality. This will enable you to contact suppliers to discuss their
products, and find one that meets your specific needs. You can find the page here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-software-thats-compatible-with-making-tax-digital-for-vat

MTD VAT bridging products work by importing the VAT 9 box data from the main accounting
system or spreadsheet into the product, and then submitting the data to HMRC. MTD does
not require any more information/data to be submitted to HMRC than is currently provided
on a VAT return. You can see examples of a number of bridging products working in
practice, by going to YouTube and searching ‘MTD bridging products’.

Turning to security; we are working very closely with software developers to assure the
security of systems and customer data. As a condition of providing software for MTD,
developers are required to sign up to HMRC’s published ‘Terms of Use’.

Information is available in large print, audio and Braille formats.

Text Relay service number – 18001
This sets out the essential security standards they must adhere to, including cyber security,
privacy and customer data obligations.

You can find out more about the Terms of Use online at:
https://developer.service.hmrc.gov.uk/api-documentation/docs/terms-of-use

If you are looking to develop your own MTD solution, you will need to subscribe to HMRC’s
Application Programme Interface (API). All developers are required to sign up to this to
ensure consistency in meeting HMRC’s MTD requirements.

You can sign up/subscribe to HMRC’s developer hub, and subscribe to the VAT API here:
https://developer.service.hmrc.gov.uk/api-documentation

This will give you access to all technical documentation and guidance needed to integrate
with HMRC’s API. It will also give you access to the sandbox service to test prototype
outputs.

In addition to this I would sign post you to the VAT Notice 700/22, which will provide you with
specific details of requirements, as regards functional software, digital links etc:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-notice-70022-making-tax-digital-for-vat/vat-
notice-70022-making-tax-digital-for-vat