An issue that is going to loom large for limited companies over the next few months is iXBRL. If you run a limited company and have no idea what iXBRL is, read on.

At present, limited companies have to send HM Revenue & Customs a tax return, a set of accounts and a computation that links the two. These can be sent on paper or electronically. From next April, however, they will not only have to be sent electronically but with the data “tagged” using iXBRL. iXBRL stands for inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language and it “tags” the financial data in the final accounts so that it can be transmitted, reassembled and analysed by HMRC. This will be a legal requirement and businesses need to begin thinking about it now. Submitting a paper return will be treated as a failure to file a return.

If you use an accountant then they will hopefully be thinking about iXBRL for you - but do check. Although only a very small number of accountancy software products currently cover all three elements of the package to be transmitted, the software we use at A C Mole and Sons already covers the first and second elements and the third is due to be covered by the autumn, well in time for the legal implementation date. We were in fact the first firm in the UK to transmit a company tax return and iXBRL computations using Iris software back in April this year.

But what if you don’t have an accountant or you prepare your final accounts using Excel or Word? For very straightforward cases, there is an HMRC online product available on their website. For Word and Excel accounts, products are beginning to come onto the market (and more are due to be launched in the autumn) that will “tag” these. If you have not yet begun thinking about the move to iXBRL then you will need to do so fairly soon. This is a significant change.

Finally, last month I set out some thoughts about what might be in the Budget. There may still be time for some last minute planning and you can find a copy at www.acmole.co.uk. On Budget Day, I will put a summary of the Chancellor’s proposals on the website, together with my thoughts on how they will affect you.

Paul Aplin OBE is a tax partner with A C Mole & Sons and a former chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales Tax Faculty. He can be contacted on 01823 624450, email paulaplin@acmole.co.uk. Bridgwater based tax partner Paul Kingdom can be contacted on 01278 446088, email paulkingdom@acmole.co.uk.