As part of its efforts to introduce Making Tax Digital (MTD) quarterly reporting for landlords and the self-employed with income over £25,000, the government has today launched a pilot scheme.
Ahead of the new MTD rules being introduced in April 2026, tax agents will today be allowed to sign up to the pilot for MTD, subject to having an agent services account (ASA).
The aim is to enable agents and accountants to test out the beta testing programme for MTD for ITSA, which has now opened for users, giving agents the chance to try out the digital filing platform with live client data.
HMRC, which will publish details of the specific criteria for which client accounts will qualify for the testing today, will hold a live online session on Friday 26 April, from 2pm to 2:45pm.
The session will be presented by HMRC’s customer strategy and tax design group director general, Jonathan Athow, MTD director, Craig Ogilvie, and MTD deputy director for strategic design and digital, Jennifer Staves.
HMRC said: “Taking part in testing is a good opportunity to familiarise yourself and a small number of your clients with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA) well ahead of 2026. This will help you to prepare your business and be ready to support the rest of your clients.
“You need to make sure both yours and your client’s record-keeping software is compatible with Making Tax Digital before you sign up. You can check compatible software options.
“If the software that you or your client prefer to use is not listed, you should contact the software provider to find out when they plan to join Making Tax Digital.”
From April 2026, self-employed individuals and landlords with total income from self-employment and property over £50,000 will be legally required to keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC using compatible software. This will be extended to those with an income over £30,000 will need to do this from April 2027.
One step closer to having to pay HMRC their royalties within minutes of earning a few quid.
It starts with every three months … and then every month … and then …
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It will never happen, this has been delayed twice as the infrastructure of HMRC is not set up to cope with the demand, the 4 quarters don’t even need to match the annual submission, so there is no way of checking. All the 3rd party software devs stopped working for them when they closed the IR35 loophole and they cannot keep a hold of support staff let alone get enough.
And if all of that was not enough for them, this is going to be enforced when a new government get in……….I think not, accountants now are just ignoring it and so should we
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You’re in cloud cuckoo buddy.
This is coming whether you choose to believe it or not.
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