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Going digital for MTD

Whether it applies to you, from when, and the figures each quarterly update and VAT return needs.

7 tools · 6 free with no account · 1 free to try with one

Making Tax Digital for VAT has applied to every VAT-registered business since April 2022. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax reached its first band in April 2026, and it is catching people who have never used accounting software and have an accountant only once a year, if that.

The first question is whether you are in, and the answer turns on qualifying income — which is gross, before expenses, added across every trade and every property. That single definition is why so many people believe they are out. Work that out first, then worry about the rest.

Where do I stand?

The question to answer before anything else.

Making Tax Digital: Does It Apply to Me? — Free OnlineWork out whether Making Tax Digital for Income Tax catches you, and from which April. It adds up your qualifying income the way HMRC defines it - gross income before expenses, across every trade and every property business - shows the sum, names the threshold that catches you, counts your quarterly updates, and gives you the first period and its deadline. Guidance as at 2026-09-20; gov.uk is the authority. Runs in your browser.Free

What do I send, and when?

The figures, the periods and the deadlines.

MTD Quarterly Update Builder — Free OnlineTurn the income and expense spreadsheet you already keep into the figures a Making Tax Digital quarterly update asks for. It maps your own category names onto the standard self-employment or property headings, cuts the tax year into its four quarterly periods - standard or calendar - and gives the cumulative year-to-date total alongside the standalone quarter, with every unmatched row listed by name. It produces the figures; filing them needs software HMRC has recognised. Runs in your browser.FreeVAT Return from a Spreadsheet (the nine boxes) — Free OnlineTurn a spreadsheet of sales and purchases into the nine boxes of a UK VAT return — standard accrual, cash accounting or the flat rate scheme — with every box opened up to show the rows behind it, and the sheet checked for net-plus-VAT that does not equal gross, duplicate invoice numbers and rows outside the period. It computes the figures; it does not file them. Runs entirely in your browser.Free

Keeping records digitally

What "digital records" has to mean in practice.

Bookkeeping: Trial Balance, P&L and Balance Sheet — Free OnlineBring a bank statement, a sales day book or a set of journals into a real double-entry ledger and get the trial balance, profit and loss, balance sheet, VAT or GST figures and every account’s ledger back. Charts of accounts for the UK and India. Runs in your browser — a client’s books are never uploaded.FreeBank Reconciliation — Free OnlineMatch a bank statement against the bank ledger from your books — Tally, Zoho, QuickBooks or a spreadsheet — and get the unmatched entries on each side, the matched pairs, and the closing balances explained. Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.FreeBank Statement Categoriser — AI for BusinessPaste or upload a bank statement and get every transaction categorised to a ledger head — rent, salaries, GST paid, a named customer — as a spreadsheet, or as Tally receipt and payment vouchers ready to import.Free to tryMerge & Dedupe Spreadsheets — Free OnlineCombine up to ten Excel or CSV files into one sheet — columns matched by heading, rows stacked — then remove duplicates on the columns you choose, with every removed row listed by source file and row. Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.Free

Frequently asked questions

Can I file my return from here?

Not yet, and we will not pretend otherwise. These tools work out the figures and show you every row behind each one. Filing has to go through software HMRC has recognised, which involves registering as a vendor, passing their tests and sending fraud prevention headers with every call — an approval, not a feature. We are working through it.

What counts as qualifying income?

Gross income before any expense: turnover from self-employment plus gross rents from UK and overseas property, added together. Not profit, and not one business on its own. Employment income, pensions, dividends, savings interest and capital gains are not counted.

How current is the guidance here?

Every threshold and date sits in one marked block in each tool, with the date it was last checked printed on the page and a link to the gov.uk page that settles it. The pages also list the specific points we are least sure of, rather than presenting everything as equally certain.

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