# New Face Of Digital Tax Revealed: Cartoon ‘Dexter The Digital Tax Advisor’ Launches To Tackle Lack Of Awareness Of New Legislation Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2019-01-05 Category: TECHNOLOGY Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/technology Meta Title: Xero Launches Dexter the Digital Tax Advisor for Making Tax Meta Description: Get ready for Making Tax Digital with the new face of digitalisation - Dexter! Animated by Oscar-nominated duo Alison Snowden and David Fine. URL: https://financedigest.com/new-face-digital-tax-revealed-cartoon-dexter-digital-tax-advisor-launches-tackle-lack-awareness-new-legislationhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/new-face-of-digital-tax-revealed-cartoon-dexter-the-digital-tax-advisor-launches-to-tackle-lack-of-awareness-of-new-legislation-1736840157759-compressed.jpg) - **_Xero launches Dexter the Digital Tax Advisor as its new “face” of digitalisation to help small businesses and their accountants prepare for new tax legislation –_** - **_Dexter has been launched to help small businesses in the months ahead, as 1 in 4 SMB owners still “unaware” of the Making Tax Digital for VAT –_** _Dexter the Digital Tax Advisor_ has been unveiled by Xero – the accounting software platform – to put a face to the name of its Making Tax Digital software and help accountants and small businesses prepare for one of the biggest business transformations in decades. This follows analysis which has found that with less than five months to go until the legislation comes into force, a quarter of [small business](https://www.financedigest.com/foolproof-local-marketing-strategies-for-small-businesses.html "Foolproof Local Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses") owners (25 per cent) are still unaware of the legislation. Commissioned by Xero, the Dexter the [Digital Tax](https://www.financedigest.com/self-employed-taxpayers-and-making-tax-digital.html "Self-employed taxpayers and Making Tax Digital") Advisor cartoon series has been animated by the Oscar-nominated creative duo Alison Snowden and David Fine, with a teaser revealed to a crowd of more than 3,000 at Xerocon London this week. From April 2019, every VAT-registered [business above the £85k threshold company in the UK will be required by law to go digital and file their tax through MTD compatible cloud software](https://www.financedigest.com/software-to-display-your-businesss-important-information.html "Software to Display Your Business’s Important Information"). Heralding a new era of digital tax, a fifth of (22 per cent) [small business](https://www.financedigest.com/pakistan-floods-add-to-pain-for-struggling-small-businesses.html "Pakistan floods add to pain for struggling small businesses") owners said they thought digitally submitted tax returns could cut between 6 and 10 hours from the process yearly. But despite this, the [analysis showed that there is still a lack of understanding amongst the small business](https://www.financedigest.com/albumin-market-in-depth-analysis-business-strategies-and-growth-rate.html "Albumin Market In-depth Analysis, Business Strategies, and Growth Rate") community. Despite the new legislation rapidly approaching for the 1.1m small businesses operating above the VAT threshold, almost a third of small business owners (29 per cent) admitted having heard of the legislation but not understanding anything about it, while 36 per cent said that the only thing they know about the legislation is the April 1st landmark when Making [Tax Digital](https://www.financedigest.com/feature-africas-mobile-money-taxes-risk-driving-poor-out-of-digital-economy.html "FEATURE-Africa’s mobile money taxes risk driving poor out of digital economy") for VAT begins. Furthermore, over a third of [small businesses](https://www.financedigest.com/4-ways-small-businesses-can-save-money-while-outsourcing.html "4 Ways Small Businesses Can Save Money While Outsourcing") (38 per cent) are concerned about the complexity of the switchover in the coming months, while the same number (38 per cent) have concerns due to a lack of understanding and knowledge about the legislation. Just 23 per cent of small business owners know that MTD will be compulsory for all [businesses in the future](https://www.financedigest.com/surgical-equipment-market-high-trend-opportunities-offers-future-business-growth-by-2030.html "Surgical Equipment Market High Trend Opportunities Offers Future Business Growth by 2030"), while less than a third (29 per cent) understand the penalties associated with non-compliance. The animated series of short films starring Dexter the Digital [Tax Advisor](https://www.financedigest.com/tom-griffiths-tax-advisor-on-the-4-most-common-us-expat-tax-questions-answered.html "Tom Griffiths on The 4 Most Common US Expat Tax Questions Answered") will be released in the lead-up to the MTD for VAT kick-off date. The character has been launched to concentrate minds ahead of the shake-up, showing accountants and [businesses how easy it is to make the switch](https://www.financedigest.com/pstn-isdn-switch-off-what-businesses-need-to-know.html "PSTN/ISDN switch-off: what businesses need to know ") to digital. Given that tax has historically been viewed as a highly tedious task – a quarter of SMB owners (23 per cent) name submitting VAT as the job they enjoy the least – Dexter’s mission is to highlight the benefits in efficiency and offer peace of mind in the [months ahead](https://www.financedigest.com/dutch-governor-knot-signals-ecb-will-keep-raising-rates-in-months-ahead-ft.html "Dutch governor Knot signals ECB will keep raising rates in months ahead- FT") and beyond. Dexter the Digital Tax Advisor launches as Xero announces it is officially [ready](https://www.financedigest.com/an-analysis-of-vc-investment-in-the-defence-sector-and-the-mods-readiness-to-exploit-digital-opportunities.html "An analysis of VC investment in the Defence sector and the MOD’s readiness to exploit digital opportunities") for Making Tax Digital as well as thousands of Xero accounting partners. As a HMRC approved supplier for Making [Tax Digital for VAT, Xero’s new VAT functionality is now in public beta and is completely compatible for Making Tax Digital for businesses](https://www.financedigest.com/employee-retention-tax-credit-is-a-lifeline-for-businesses.html "Employee Retention Tax Credit is a lifeline for businesses") over the VAT threshold. **Damon Anderson, Director of Partner and Product at Xero says**: “Making Tax Digital is going to usher in a new era of accountancy, encouraging the technology adoption and working practices to bring the profession into the [21st century](https://www.financedigest.com/taking-the-pain-out-of-payments-for-the-21st-century-worker.html "TAKING THE PAIN OUT OF PAYMENTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY WORKER"). Our data has shown that there are huge numbers of small businesses who still feel unprepared for the legislation, so we’ve created Dexter the Digital Tax Advisor to be the [voice of Making Tax Digital for VAT and help accountants](https://www.financedigest.com/b2b-specialist-pr-agency-the-digital-voice-announces-four-key-account-wins-as-it-celebrates-its-tenth-birthday.html "B2B specialist PR agency The Digital Voice announces four key account wins as it celebrates its tenth birthday") and small businesses on their digital journey and make tax less taxing. MTD is just the start of [technological innovation](https://www.financedigest.com/cloud-professional-services-market-to-be-driven-by-technological-innovation-tmr.html "Cloud Professional Services Market to be Driven by Technological Innovation | TMR") for the world of accountancy. It’s going to drive widespread adoption of [digital technology](https://www.financedigest.com/how-banks-can-use-digital-technology-to-become-more-sustainable.html "How banks can use digital technology to become more sustainable"), introducing new innovations, such as AI and automation. And at the core of this, we’ll [see accountants experiencing a technological and cultural](https://www.financedigest.com/the-protective-cultures-market-to-see-through-explicit-advancements.html "The Protective Cultures Market To See Through Explicit Advancements") shift, in which paper and outdated desktop software will be replaced with the latest digital technology equipped to evolve with new legislation.” For further information on Making Tax Digital for VAT visit Xero’s [Making Tax Digital hub](http://www.xero.com/uk/resources/making-tax-digital/). --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---