Making Tax Digital
MTD is here. Your records can already be ready.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is now live for qualifying sole traders and landlords. SubReady keeps your income and expenses digitally organised through WhatsApp and prepares the quarterly figures you need.
Where things stand
Exactly what’s live — and what’s pending
Live today — digital record keeping
Receipts, expenses, income, CIS statements and bank statement PDFs captured through WhatsApp become categorised digital records — the foundation MTD requires.
Live today — quarterly figures
SubReady prepares cumulative quarterly income and expense figures from your real records, so each MTD quarter is a review, not a scramble.
Approval pending — direct HMRC submission
Our direct HMRC submission integration is built and currently progressing through HMRC's production-access process. Until approval is granted, your accountant can review your records and file through their own recognised software.
The phased timetable
When MTD for Income Tax applies to you
From April 2026
Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 keep digital records and send quarterly updates.
From April 2027
Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £30,000 keep digital records and send quarterly updates.
From April 2028
Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £20,000 keep digital records and send quarterly updates.
“Qualifying income” is your combined gross self-employment and property income before expenses. Below the thresholds, Self Assessment continues as normal — and clean digital records still make January far easier.
MTD bookkeeping, the WhatsApp way
How SubReady keeps subcontractors MTD-ready
Capture as you go
Photo a receipt, type “£40 fuel on card”, forward a CIS statement — every message becomes a dated, categorised digital record the moment you send it.
Bank statements, no bank connection
Upload your statement PDF and SubReady reads every line and matches it to your records. No Open Banking connection required.
Quarter and year-end, prepared
Quarterly figures build automatically, and the annual return workflow assembles your year — with an accountant-ready export your accountant can work from directly.
Read more: our plain-English MTD guide, how SubReady works, SubReady for subcontractors, pricing, or MTD for accountants.
MTD FAQ
Making Tax Digital, in plain English
Yes. MTD for Income Tax started in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000. From April 2027 it extends to qualifying income over £30,000, and from April 2028 to over £20,000. Below those thresholds you continue with Self Assessment as before — but keeping digital records now makes the transition painless.
Three things: keep your income and expense records digitally, send HMRC a summary update each quarter through recognised software, and finish the year with a final declaration instead of the old Self Assessment return. Paper records and retyping totals into a return don't satisfy the rules.
Each item of self-employment income and expense recorded in software (or a spreadsheet linked to software) rather than on paper. A photographed receipt sent to SubReady on WhatsApp becomes exactly that — a categorised digital record with the date, amount and category stored.
No. Quarterly updates are cumulative summaries of your income and expenses — they are not four tax bills. Your tax is still worked out after the year ends. What changes is that HMRC (and you) can see roughly where you stand during the year.
Not yet — and we won't claim otherwise. Our direct HMRC submission integration is built and is currently progressing through HMRC's production-access process. What is live today: digital record keeping, quarterly figures prepared from your real records, VAT record keeping, and accountant access so your accountant can review or file through their own software in the meantime.
If you're a self-employed sole trader with qualifying income over the threshold for your start year, yes. CIS deductions don't change your MTD obligations — but they make clean records even more valuable, because your CIS deductions offset the tax due at year end.
This page is general guidance, not tax advice. Rules and dates are HMRC’s; check your own position with HMRC or your accountant.
Get MTD-ready records without the admin
Start free on WhatsApp — 14 days free, no card required. Your records stay organised from the first receipt you send.
14 days free · No card required · Takes about 60 seconds