Making Tax Digital

MTD's coming.
You're sorted.

From April 2026, HMRC wants quarterly digital records. The Back Office keeps your books MTD-ready — right from your WhatsApp.

What's MTD?

Making Tax Digital (MTD) is HMRC's plan to move tax records online. From April 2026, sole traders over the income threshold keep digital records and send HMRC a quarterly summary — replacing the once-a-year return. If your books are already digital and tidy, it's barely a speed bump. That's where we come in.

Apr 2026
When it kicks in
£50k+
In the first wave
4×
Updates a year
0
Spreadsheets needed

Who it affects & when

£50k+April 2026Sole traders & landlords first
£30k+April 2027Threshold drops
£20k+April 2028Drops again

How your band is decided: HMRC uses the income on your most recent Self Assessment. Qualifying income is your gross self-employment and property income, before expenses.

What MTD asks of you

01

Keep digital records

Income and expenses stored in software — each with a date, amount and category. No paper ledger, no shoebox.

02

Send a quarterly update

Four running summaries a year to HMRC via MTD-compatible software. Cumulative snapshots, not final figures.

03

Finalise once a year

Confirm your figures and submit a final declaration — this replaces the old Self Assessment return.

What counts as a digital record?

A photo sitting in your camera roll isn't enough. HMRC wants each transaction captured in software, with three things against it:

Date £ Amount Category

That's exactly what happens when you send a receipt to Jan on WhatsApp — logged, categorised and stored against the right job. A proper digital record, no spreadsheet in sight.

Spreadsheet vs sorted

Spreadsheet, once a year

✕ Updated the night before the deadline
✕ Re-keying a year of receipts, four times a year
✕ Can't file to HMRC without bridging software
✕ Easy to lose, easy to get wrong

MTD-ready with TBO

✓ Records kept current as you go
✓ Snap a receipt, it's logged in seconds
✓ Clean summary ready every quarter
✓ Accountant-ready, no re-keying

How TBO keeps you MTD-ready

1

Photo a receipt

Snap it at the till and fire it to Jan on WhatsApp — from your glovebox, done in seconds.

2

Jan categorises it

Filed and stored against the right job — a proper digital record, no spreadsheet required.

3

Books stay current

Your numbers stay up to date, so a clean quarterly summary is always ready for your accountant.

Jan
JanTBO back office · online
fuel-receipt.jpg
Bunged a fuel receipt on 👍
Filed under Fuel, £42.60 ✅ Q4 books are MTD-ready.
✓ Q4 2026 · Ready for accountant

To be precise: we make your books MTD-ready. The quarterly submission to HMRC is still made by you or your accountant — we keep everything clean and current so it's a five-minute job, not a weekend of dread.

Built for the trades

You're on a roof, under a sink or in a van — not sat at a desk. Receipts pile up in the glovebox; fuel, materials and tools get spent on the move. A WhatsApp-native back office fits how trades actually work: photograph a receipt between jobs and the admin's done before the toolbox is packed away. No new app, no laptop, no evenings reconciling.

— FAQ

MTD questions, answered.

MTD for Income Tax becomes mandatory from 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000. It extends to those over £30,000 from April 2027, and over £20,000 from April 2028.

It's based on qualifying income — your total gross income from self-employment and property, before expenses. The thresholds step down each year: £50,000 (2026), £30,000 (2027) and £20,000 (2028).

As things stand, sole traders with qualifying income below £20,000 aren't yet required to join. The government has said it intends to bring smaller businesses in over time, so it's worth getting your records digital early either way.

Four quarterly updates a year, plus a final declaration after the year ends. The quarterly updates are cumulative summaries of your income and expenses, not full tax returns.

For those within MTD, the final declaration replaces the annual Self Assessment return. You still need to file a normal Self Assessment for the tax year before you join MTD.

You need software compatible with MTD for Income Tax to keep digital records and send quarterly updates. The Back Office keeps your books clean and MTD-ready, so the numbers are ready for submission by you or your accountant.

Not on its own. A spreadsheet doesn't keep records as you go in the way HMRC expects, and it can't submit quarterly updates without separate bridging software. Keeping records in MTD-ready software from the start is simpler and safer.

For the first year (2026/27), HMRC won't apply penalty points for late quarterly updates if you were required to join from April 2026. Penalties still apply for late final returns and for paying your tax bill late.

Yes, if you're a sole trader with qualifying income over the threshold for that year. The rules are the same across all trades — only the income level and start date decide when you join.

Not necessarily, but many sole traders still use one. Whether you submit yourself or through an accountant, MTD requires your records to be digital and current. The Back Office handles that part, so whoever files has clean, accountant-ready figures to work from.

You photograph receipts and send them to Jan on WhatsApp. Each one is categorised and stored against the right job, so your income and expenses stay digital and up to date. When a quarterly update is due, a clean summary is already there waiting.

Yes. HMRC lets eligible sole traders sign up voluntarily before their mandatory date to get used to the process. Getting your records digital now makes that switch painless.