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N° 07 / 08 · Service

Making Tax Digital

Sole traders and landlords first — MTD ITSA from April 2026, on compliant software, ahead of deadline.

Engagement

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Overview Overview

Sole traders and landlords are the cohort MTD ITSA actually changes — quarterly digital submissions in place of the annual SA100 / SA103 / SA105, on HMRC-recognised software, from April 2026 if your qualifying income exceeds £50,000, and from April 2027 if it exceeds £30,000. MTD for VAT has settled; MTD ITSA hasn’t. We migrate sole-trader and landlord clients onto compliant software, set up the digital record-keeping properly, and rehearse the new quarterly cadence well before HMRC starts counting submissions.

Included in scope

  • 01 Sole-trader & landlord MTD ITSA migrations
  • 02 MTD-compliant software setup & training (Xero, FreeAgent, QuickBooks)
  • 03 Digital record-keeping protocols (digital-link compliant)
  • 04 Quarterly update & end-of-period statement submissions
  • 05 Bridging-software migration plans for spreadsheet-led books
  • 06 MTD ITSA readiness review (April 2026 / April 2027 cohorts)
In Practice

Where this shows up
in the work.

The mechanics are settled — quarterly updates on a digital cadence, an end-of-period statement, a final declaration replacing the SA103 / SA105. The transition is what catches people. The spreadsheets that still drive most sole-trader and small-landlord bookkeeping aren’t compliant under the digital-link rules. HMRC’s new penalty regime is points-based and unforgiving — four late submissions in a rolling year and the financial penalties begin. We migrate clients in calm conditions, run a parallel quarter so the first real submission is uneventful, and sit on the right side of the points threshold from day one.

Recurring scenarios

  • 01 A sole-trader consultant whose fees clear £50,000 — we move them onto FreeAgent, configure the MTD ITSA submission cadence, and run a parallel quarter before April 2026 so the first real submission is uneventful.
  • 02 A sole-trader tradesperson with seasonal income that crosses the threshold in some years — we set up the digital records ahead of the first qualifying year, so there’s no scramble when HMRC’s notice arrives.
  • 03 A landlord with a four-property portfolio — combined rental income above £50k, but each property tracked separately. We set up the digital records property-by-property and confirm the aggregation rules with HMRC.
  • 04 A sole trader just below the £30k threshold today, but with growth that will cross it next year — we make the move now rather than wait for the 2027 deadline, because doing it well in calm conditions is cheaper than doing it under pressure.
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