Do you need an accountant for Making Tax Digital?
No. Nothing in the Making Tax Digital rules requires an accountant. The obligations are keeping digital records, sending quarterly updates and submitting a tax return through software, and HMRC's guidance is addressed to you, the taxpayer, the whole way through. Whether an accountant is worth it is a different question, and it deserves an honest answer rather than a sales pitch in either direction.
What MTD actually asks of you
Strip it back and MTD is three duties:
- Digital records. For each transaction, software records the amount, the date and the category. That's HMRC's own list of what a digital record is.
- Quarterly updates. Your software sends "totals for each income and expense category you've used" four times a year. You check and press send. The first is due 7 August 2026.
- The tax return, through your software, by 31 January, same as always. It doesn't disappear under MTD.
Notice what's not on the list: anything that requires a professional qualification. Every item is a software task. Even the sign-up is something you do yourself with your own Government Gateway login.
What the software does, and what's left for you
Good software carries the mechanics: capturing transactions, categorising them against HMRC's list, keeping the running totals, sending the updates. What's genuinely yours: knowing which spending is business and which isn't, glancing at the numbers before they go, and keeping the habit alive. That's minutes a week, not evenings.
When an accountant genuinely earns their fee
An accountant is for judgement, not mechanics. The rules published on gov.uk answer "what can I claim for a van?" in black and white, and software can put that answer in front of you. What the published rules don't settle is "should I buy the van this year or next?", "is it time to incorporate?", or a tax position that's genuinely tangled. That's advice, it's personal to you, and it's exactly what a good accountant is for.
Plenty of sole traders run both: software for the year's records, an accountant once a year or for the odd big decision. And plenty run software alone, because a straightforward trade with clean records doesn't generate many judgement calls. Both are legitimate. What you shouldn't do is pay an accountant to retype a shoebox: that's the mechanical part, and it's the part software removed.
Doing it yourself, without it becoming a hobby
The burden of MTD was never the four sends, it's the record-keeping underneath them. Capture as you go and the burden mostly disappears: snap the receipt when you get it, tag the trip when you park, and the quarterly update becomes software adding up things that are already true. When a question comes up, Ask SoleTax answers from HMRC's published rules and your own records, in plain English. And when a question needs judgement, it will tell you that's one for an accountant.
Quick answers
Is an accountant required for Making Tax Digital?
No. The obligations are digital records, quarterly updates and a tax return through compatible software. HMRC's guidance is written for taxpayers doing this themselves, and the sign-up is self-serve on gov.uk.
Can I sign up for MTD myself?
Yes. You need to be registered for Self Assessment with a return submitted in the last 2 years, and you sign up on gov.uk using your existing Government Gateway user ID and password.
Can software give me tax advice?
Software can give you information: what HMRC's published rules say, applied to your records. What it shouldn't do is make judgement calls like whether a purchase is worth it or how to structure your affairs. Those are accountant questions.
What does MTD cost without an accountant?
The price of compatible software. SoleTax is £9.99 a month or £79.99 a year, with a 14-day free trial and no card needed to start.
The mechanics, handled
SoleTax does the records, the categories and the running tax figure, and Ask SoleTax answers your questions in plain English from your own numbers. 14 days free, no card needed.
Join the betaSources: gov.uk, use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: create digital records (updated 2 June 2026), send quarterly updates (updated 2 June 2026) and submit your tax return; sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 26 June 2026). Checked on 8 July 2026.