We also received written evidence from the Chartered Institute of Taxation, which highlighted the findings of a survey of businesses and agents with an interest in the programme that they had carried out jointly with the Association of Taxation Technicians during December 2019 and January 2020.40 The findings of the survey suggested that the costs of Making Tax Digital compliance had far exceeded government estimates. While HMRC had estimated the average transition costs to be £109 per VAT-registered business, less than 10% of respondents estimated their or their clients’ costs at or below that amount, with 45% estimating costs between £109 and £500, and some 12% estimating costs over £5,000.41 33 Q 17 34 Q 47 35 Qq 20, 45; C&AG’s Report, Appendix Four 36 Qq 20–21, 69 37 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.11, 3.4 38 Qq 20, 67; HM Revenue & Customs and HM Treasury, Building a trusted, modern tax administration system, 21 July 2020 39 Qq 66–67 40 TTG003 - Chartered Institute of Taxation para 4.21 41 Findings of the survey available at: www.tax.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/press-release-survey-results- contradict-government-claims-realising Tackling the tax gap 15 Small businesses