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Making Tax Digital, explained for sole traders
What's actually changing, whether it applies to you, the quarterly deadlines, the penalties, and five steps to get ready. The whole thing in plain English.
Do the MTD rules apply to you?
Four quick questions, your start date at the end: April 2026, 2027, 2028, or not yet. Built on HMRC's published thresholds, rental income counted.
Can I claim...? Quick answers
Client lunches, work boots, fuel, laptops, gym memberships, hotels, glasses. Twenty-three straight answers from HMRC's own rules.
The MTD rules
Do you still do a tax return under MTD?
Yes. Quarterly updates feed the return, they don't replace it. The deadline stays 31 January, and paying doesn't change.
Can you get out of Making Tax Digital?
Who's automatically exempt, what digitally excluded actually means, and how applying by phone or post works.
Can you keep using a spreadsheet under MTD?
Yes, with two catches: it can't submit to HMRC by itself, and copy-and-paste between tools is against the rules.
The rental income trap
MTD's threshold adds your trade turnover and rental income together, gross. A £40k trade plus a £15k rental is in the first wave.
Signing up for MTD: it doesn't happen by itself
HMRC sends letters, but nobody signs you up. The two conditions, the five things you need, and the honest read on volunteering early.
The MTD threshold: turnover, not profit
HMRC tests gross income before expenses. A £56,000 turnover with a £32,000 profit is over the line, because profit never enters the test.
Is Making Tax Digital delayed? No
Live since 6 April 2026, first deadline 7 August, and the 2026 Regulations are in force. Why the rumour persists, and what got softened instead.
What MTD will actually cost you
HMRC's own averages: about £320 to get set up, £110 a year after. Where the money goes, what software costs, and the part that's deductible.
Two businesses: one threshold, separate updates
A trade plus a rental means eight quarterly sends a year. The threshold adds your income together; the updates stay separate.
Just gone self-employed? MTD can't see you yet
No MTD until after your first Self Assessment tax return. The timeline for a brand-new sole trader, worked through with real dates.
Do you need an accountant for MTD?
No. The duties are software tasks, and HMRC's guidance is written for you. The honest split between software's job and an accountant's.
Your income dropped. Can you leave MTD?
Not quickly. The 2026 Regulations release you only after three consecutive years at or below the threshold. Earliest exit: 2029-30.
Switching MTD software mid-year
Allowed, with one rule: records move by export and import, never by retyping. Cumulative updates make the seam invisible.
Quarterly updates
Your first quarterly update is due 7 August 2026
Totals, not receipts. Not a tax return, not a bill. What to send, the soft landing if it's late, and how mistakes get fixed.
Can you be fined for a wrong quarterly update?
The only update penalty in HMRC's guidance is for lateness. Mistakes are handled by correction, and the next update carries the fix.
Do quarterly updates mean paying tax four times?
No. Updates carry no bill and no payment. Tax keeps its old dates: 31 January, plus 31 July if payments on account apply.
Tax, expenses and claiming
What expenses can you claim as a sole trader?
The everyday categories, the ones that catch people out, and what a claim is actually worth in saved tax.
How much tax will you pay as a sole trader?
Income Tax, Class 4 National Insurance, and a full worked example at £40,000 profit, including Scotland's bands.
Self-employed in Scotland: how your tax is different
Six bands from 19% to 48% on your trading profit. Cheaper than England below about £33,500, dearer above. The exact numbers.
Side hustle tax: the £1,000 trading allowance
When a side hustle is tax-free, when you must register, and how the allowance trades off against real expenses.
Mileage: HMRC's flat rate, explained
55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p. What the rate replaces, and which journeys count.
The HMRC mileage rate is 55p now
It rose from 45p on 6 April 2026, and much of the internet hasn't noticed. The current table, straight from gov.uk.
Payments on account, explained
Why a first tax bill is often 150% of the tax owed, how the two instalments work, and when you can reduce them.
CIS deductions, explained for subcontractors
The 20% deduction, why materials are never touched, and how the money comes back at Self Assessment.
Cash basis: the sole trader's standard, explained
Why an unpaid invoice isn't taxable yet, and what cash basis means for the kit you buy.
What records to keep, and for how long
The 5-year rule, what HMRC expects to see, and what digital records mean under MTD.
Your first year self-employed: tax, step by step
When to register, what a UTR is, when the first return lands, and the one bill nobody warns you about.
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