What Making Tax Digital software really costs in a year.
Subscriptions charge every month whether you file or not. FileThat charges per submission. Here is a year of each, for a sole trader and for a VAT-registered sole trader, from every provider's own pricing page.
Prices from each provider
Checked 1 October 2026
VAT included
A year of Making Tax Digital, side by side
Regular prices after any introductory offer, with VAT added where the provider quotes without it, because a sole trader who is not VAT registered cannot reclaim it.
| Software | How you pay | A year, sole trader (4 updates) | A year, VAT registered (4 updates and 4 VAT returns) |
|---|---|---|---|
| FileThat | £3.99 to £5.99 per submission, set by your income. Final declaration and NIL VAT returns free. At most £55 a year. | £15.96 to £23.96 | £31.92 to £47.92 |
Xero Ignite Checked 1 October 2026, Xero pricing | £18 a month plus VAT, after 90% off for the first 6 months | £259.20Ignite | £259.20Ignite |
FreeAgent Sole Trader Checked 1 October 2026, FreeAgent pricing | £190 a year plus VAT (or £19 a month), after 50% off for the first 6 monthsFree while you have a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland or Ulster Bank business current account, or a Mettle account with at least one transaction a month | £228.00Sole Trader | £228.00Sole Trader |
GoSimpleTax Making Tax Digital Checked 1 October 2026, GoSimpleTax pricing | £12.99 a month, signed up through Coconut | £155.88Making Tax Digital | £213.77Making Tax Digital plus MTD VAT |
QuickBooks Sole Trader Plus Checked 1 October 2026, QuickBooks pricing | £10 a month plus VAT, after 90% off for the first 6 months | £144.00Sole Trader Plus | £230.40Simple Start |
untied MTD plan Checked 1 October 2026, untied pricing | £129.99 a year | £129.99MTD plan | Does not file VAT |
Sage Sole Trader Checked 1 October 2026, Sage pricing | £7 a month plus VAT, after 90% off for the first 6 monthsSole Trader Free: one bank account, five sales invoices a month and 25 auto-categorised transactions, for sole traders who are not VAT registered | £100.80Sole Trader | VAT is on another plan, not priced here |
Regular prices, including VAT where the provider quotes without it. A VAT-registered business not on the Flat Rate Scheme can usually reclaim that VAT.
How we compare
Every price is from the provider's own UK pricing page, on the date shown beside it. We use the regular price, not an introductory discount, because that is what you pay from the second half of the year onwards.
Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and Sage quote prices without VAT. A sole trader who is not VAT registered cannot reclaim VAT, so we add it. If you are VAT registered and not on the Flat Rate Scheme, you can usually reclaim it and their real cost is a sixth lower.
FileThat's figures are worked out from its own prices: £3.99 to £5.99 per submission depending on your income, with the final declaration free. The full accounting packages do much more than file, so a higher price can still be the right choice.
Straight answers
What is the cheapest Making Tax Digital software?
It depends on how much you file. For a sole trader sending four quarterly updates a year, FileThat costs £15.96 to £23.96, depending on income. Free options exist too: FreeAgent is free with some business bank accounts, and Sage has a limited free plan for sole traders who are not VAT registered.
Why do you add VAT to other providers' prices?
Because most sole traders in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax are not VAT registered and cannot reclaim it. A £10 a month plus VAT plan costs them £144 a year. If you are VAT registered, and not on the Flat Rate Scheme, you can usually reclaim the VAT.
Do subscriptions include more than filing?
Often, yes. Full accounting packages such as Xero and QuickBooks add things like quotes, bills, bank feeds and more users. If you need those, the comparison is not only about price. If you need to keep records and file, a per-submission price is usually far lower.
How up to date are these prices?
Each price shows the date it was checked against the provider's own pricing page. Introductory offers come and go, so we compare regular prices. If you find one that has changed, tell us through the contact page and we will check it and update the page.
Does FileThat do everything the others do?
No. FileThat has no live bank feed: you upload a CSV of your bank statement instead, which is a deliberate choice to hold less of your data. It has no payroll and one login per account. It does keep records, invoice, and file VAT returns, quarterly updates and final declarations.
Try the per-submission way
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