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HM Revenue and Customs is looking for a new leader for the Making Tax Digital programme, who will oversee a potential expansion of the scheme to cover corporation tax.

For the successful candidate, “the principle activity will be navigating the programme's delivery of challenging and historic changes to the tax administration system”, the department said. 

Use of the digital platform is already mandatory for the VAT returns of 1.4 million firms with an annual turnover in excess of the £85,000 threshold. From April 2022, this will be expanded to include all businesses and, the following year, MTD will be further extended to cover Income Tax for individuals with annual business or property income of £10,000 or more.

The new director of the scheme will be required to oversee this expansion, as well managing the “introduction of a new penalty regime for late filing and late payment” for both VAT and Income Tax self-assessment.

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The chosen applicant will also lead the process of “consulting on and developing a future strategy for Making Tax Digital for Corporation Tax”.

Other key responsibilities of the post will include leading “technical and design colleagues to ensure effective delivery of the digital strands of the programme, managing the creation of the new software market, and our relationship with software providers”.

The leader of the £500m programme will also be expected to “engage and manage senior stakeholders… [who] include HMRC’s executive committee and HM Treasury – including significant interest from the chancellor and financial secretary to the Treasury, who are invested in the programme – other government departments, customer groups and representative bodies”.

The role comes with a salary of £125,000 and will be based at one of HMRC’s offices in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, or Telford. Applications are open until 17 January.