Before I do the ‘old scare stories’ let me be clear on where we stand with Making Tax Digital (MTD).

• From April 2026, MTD requires self-employed people earning above £10,000 to send HMRC quarterly updates,
• There will then be a Final Declaration using MTD-compatible software.This replaces the current system, which requires self-employed people to submit one yearly self-assessment using the HMRC portal. In most cases accessed for them by an accountant.

This, However Is the Latest Accountancy Industry News:

Hot off the accountancy professional press. HMRC have commissioned research showing the massive task ahead to convince the self-employed of the benefits of MTD. Both the system and the software have come under scrutiny.

With less than three years to go to 6 April 2026), HMRC is yet to tell accountants how they are going to market this to you, the public. There have been some hints, however:
HMRC commissioned a company to survey over two thousand self-employed people, that will be directly affected by MTD.

The Research

It showed that taxpayers have a low awareness of MTD. They explained the basis of it in the following way:

• It affects self-employed people, with a turnover above £10k. Who would have to follow the MTD rules from 6 April 2023?
• The only way this was through compliant (specialist) software, and it will keep digital records of income and expenses.
• The software will compulsorily keep digital records only and share tax data/info with HMRC. It will also be able to receive information from HMRC.
  Using either just one software package or a few digitally linked. There can be no offline transfer of data (weekly sheets or spreadsheets, to the likes of you and me).

What is weird, is this is not what we have been already told will be the actual rollout. Either we as accountants have not understood it properly or HMRC are being unclear. What is clear is that now, the professions understanding of MTD is:

• It’s being rolled out in 2026, not 2023.
• You will be asked to keep a record of income and expenses, but it can be on spreadsheets, apps, or software.
• We the accountant can transfer it for you, from whatever bag of nightmares that you deliver to us.

I.e., the data does not have to kept in specialist MTD software initially, if it ends up there (with of course the help of your accountant).

What Did the Taxpayers Being Surveyed Think?

People’s judgements must have been biased by the questions. It’s no good asking how difficult your tax life will be if the benefits aren’t clear.

The truth is, that if you are already using software and apps to deal with your tax returns, (like so many of my clients already are, thanks to our whizzy new Eazitax software, sorry for the plug, but we invested heavily to develop and use software, that is backed up by good old fashioned accountants who then trained even our most anti-tech clients, knowing that this was coming), then your transition to making tax digital was always going to be an easy one!

The tech whizz clients who already use software were also the ones that wouldn’t really see or understand further benefits of MTD. In reality, nothing changes, except the fact that there are quarterly returns instead of yearly. If you are supplying the information weekly or monthly already, it’s the accountant who must get their act together.

OK Gary, You Have Now Mentioned Quarterly Returns, Now I’m Worried.

The survey did ask whether submitting quarterly returns would reduce once-a-year tax problems, (knowing that MTD is about quarterly submissions).

Most taxpayers surveyed saw this as a negative. We all know what a bind record keeping is for normal people. Many people fear that they will simply not be able to keep up. Even the tech whizzes couldn’t see any further benefits to MTD.

The truth is that people will need us even more for help and advice, but I for one want clients to come to me to feel the love, not the fear…Also, I’m not sure how well HMRC’s support lines will cope with the onslaught.

So HMRC, What Are You Going to Do About It?

I am hoping that HMRC will be offering clear and easy-to-understand information. Maybe help with accessing software for those that cannot afford it? A soft policing of the early years? I hope so. History however has not been kind to these types of big tax simplification schemes.

In conclusion, although change may not always be welcome, in theory, MTD should make the tax process easier. Accountants like us should help our clients to share the journey and embrace software. 2026 is racing towards us.

This article was originally written for Professional Driver Magazine.