Comment from Mark Schofield, director at Haworths Chartered Accountants 

“As part of the Government’s vision to modernise the tax system, tax returns will be replaced by digital tax accounts for millions of individuals. This is a dramatic change for all income tax payers in the management of their annual financial routine.

“It has the potential to be one of the biggest changes in the tax reform that we have ever seen, but we’re yet to see how it translates into practical activity. We shall definitely be watching the details with great interest to see how they affect our clients. 

“George Osbourne has provided the media with a great headline and a major change which could potentially affect businesses like ours. However, I think the self-employed will still need to turn to a professional service for help and support during what is often a confusing and busy process.”