HMRC has revealed that rolling out digital services for individuals, such as the simple assessment and real-time tax code changes, have been delayed.

The move was announced in an email sent to stakeholders last week, which confirmed the delay was down to a shift in key priorities driven by the need to free up civil servants for Brexit.

‘Simple assessment' is intended to be used where a taxpayer has a secondary income or gain of more than £10,000, such as from self-employment or property, while real-time coding would make in-year adjustments to employees' tax codes.

The HMRC email confirms they will now halt progress on MTD for individuals, with a view to returning to work on these services in the future.

Digital services for businesses will not be affected, with mandatory VAT reporting due to come in for business above the VAT registration threshold of £85,000 from April 2019.

Jon Thompson, chief executive at HMRC, said:

"The things that we're stopping or pausing will slow our journey, but they don't change our overall ambition to become the world's most digitally-advanced tax authority.

"But crucially, they will allow us to support EU exit while continuing to deliver ambitious changes for our customers."

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