Stop HMRC implementing making tax digital and enforcing quarterly submissions

HMRC is pushing ahead with Making Tax Digital: a scheme that requires all business to maintain digital accounts. Currently many small businesses use paper accounting records or spreadsheets. Small businesses may lack the skills, time and funding to maintain digital accounts.

It is taxing enough for many of us to submit a yearly tax return to HMRC. But now we think this new implementation of making tax digital, using new software and quarterly submissions is taking things just too far. Please stop making tax digital which is due to be started in April 2026. We think paying tax is hard enough but this is going to just add insult to injury.

Making Tax Digital delivers value for money by increasing the amount of tax collected. This ensures that more money can go to funding vital public services, like the NHS, and supporting growth across the UK. Making Tax Digital for VAT has already been successful at reducing error and increasing tax revenues. HMRC’s published evaluation shows Making Tax Digital generated additional VAT revenue, as forecast, in the range of £185 million to £195 million in 2019 to 2020. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will build on this, and we expect it will result in an additional £1.95bn in tax cumulatively between its introduction and the 2029-30 financial year.

The Government is working with taxpayers, agents and software developers to ensure the introduction of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from April 2026 is a success.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is a new approach that uses modern technology to helps customers stay on top of their tax affairs and avoid errors. It will build on successful introduction of Making Tax Digital for VAT which applies to over 2m VAT-registered businesses. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax requires sole traders and landlords to use software to keep digital records and send simple quarterly updates to HMRC. These quarterly updates are not tax returns. They aim to be simple and quick to complete, with software automatically drawing data from digital records.

From 6 April 2026, sole traders and landlords with a qualifying income over £50,000 must use it, where their qualifying income is their total annual income before the deduction of expenses or tax from self-employment and property. HMRC are introducing Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in phases, meaning that smaller businesses with qualifying income above £30,000 will be required to use the service from April 2027, with those above £20,000 brought in in April 2028.

The Government understands this is a big change for many taxpayers and agents, and it is committed to supporting them through the transition. It has worked with the software industry to ensure there is free and low-cost software available to support smaller and simpler businesses. HMRC is also taking comprehensive steps to raise awareness by writing to affected taxpayers and agents, engaging widely with industry and tax bodies and launching a marketing campaign through social media and radio.

HM Treasury