CHARTERED accountants are urging businesses in Devon to get ready to file VAT returns online.

From April 1, businesses with an annual turnover of £100,000 or more, and all newly VAT registered businesses, must submit their returns online and pay VAT electronically. Currently, only 14 per cent of companies file their returns online.

And the Government has announced that it intends to make all businesses file their VAT returns online from 2011.

Jerry Davison, president of the South Western Society of Chartered Accountants, said: "With online filing of VAT returns becoming compulsory there is going to be a massive demand and one of the biggest problems is to make sure that everyone knows about it. HMRC wrote to all VAT registered businesses last month reminding them of the date they first registered for VAT.

"This is one of the key pieces of information which they will need to register online," he said.

More information can be found at www.icaew.com and www.hmrc.gov.uk.