I Use an Accountant. Do I Still Need Making Tax Digital Software?

The Short Answer

Someone has to keep your digital records in MTD-compatible software and send your quarterly updates. HMRC's guidance says that if you have an agent who deals with your record keeping, they can do it on your behalf, as long as the digital link is kept. So whether you need software of your own depends on how you split the work with your accountant.

You also stay responsible for your own tax, whoever files it. It is worth knowing which of the three set-ups below you are in, because it decides what you need.

Set-up 1: Your Accountant Does Everything

You hand over your receipts, invoices and bank statements, and your accountant keeps the records in their software and sends every quarterly update and the final declaration for you. In this set-up you may not need any MTD software yourself.

The catch is time. Four quarterly updates a year means handing everything over four times, not once, and the updates are due on 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. See the 2026-27 deadlines calendar. Ask your accountant how they price the quarterly work, because it is more filings than one annual return.

Set-up 2: You Keep the Records, Your Accountant Files

This is the most common split: you record income and expenses as they happen, and your accountant turns them into the returns. You need somewhere to keep those records, and a way to pass them to your accountant without anyone retyping them, because retyping breaks HMRC's digital link rule. Exporting a file that your accountant imports into their software keeps the link.

FileThat's Income and Expenditure ledger is built for this. It is free to use all year: record each line, attach the receipt, and export a categorised CSV and PDF for your accountant for £2.99. Nothing in the ledger is sent to HMRC, so your accountant files from the export.

Set-up 3: You Do It Yourself

Plenty of sole traders and landlords file their own returns, especially with straightforward figures. Here you need software that keeps your digital records and files with HMRC. In FileThat, your Digital Records feed your quarterly updates, and you check every figure before it is sent. If you already keep your figures in a spreadsheet, you can file from it instead.

You pay per submission, from £3.99 for a quarterly update depending on your income, and final declarations and amendments are free. There is no monthly subscription.

How Your Accountant Gets Permission

Your accountant acts for you through an HMRC agent services account. HMRC recognises existing Self Assessment authorisations for MTD for Income Tax, so if your accountant already acts for you on Self Assessment, they can usually carry on without you starting again. They may still ask you to confirm something, so reply to anything they or HMRC send you.

If you are an accountant yourself, FileThat has an agent area for managing clients: you connect through HMRC Agent Services and pay £2.99 per filing, with no cap on how many clients you have.

Questions to Ask Your Accountant

• Will you keep my records, or do you want me to keep them and send them to you?

• If I keep them, in what format do you want them, and how often?

• Will you send each quarterly update, and by what date do you need my figures?

• How do you charge for the quarterly updates as well as the final declaration?

Getting these answers early in the tax year saves a rush before the first deadline. For what counts as a proper record, see what HMRC means by digital records.