What is the best MTD software for builders and other CIS subcontractors?

There is no single best product, and HMRC does not recommend any. On 16 October 2026, 45 of the 154 products ready for sole traders on HMRC's finder were also ready for CIS deductions on the tax return.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) means keeping digital records, sending HMRC a summary every quarter and filing your tax return through software. For a builder on the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), the software has to cope with one extra thing: the tax your contractors have already taken off your pay.

What a builder needs from MTD software

• CIS on the tax return. GOV.UK says that if HMRC has information about your CIS subcontractor deductions, it will add them to your MTD tax return, and you must check this information before you submit. HMRC's finder lists CIS under what is needed for tax returns.
• Gross pay as income. GOV.UK's CIS guidance says to record your total pay before deductions were taken as income, and the total deductions contractors have taken as CIS deductions.
• Quarterly updates. These are summaries of income and expenses for the tax year so far, due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May.
• Records from your bank. GOV.UK says software that creates digital records can link to your business bank account to import transactions. You may need to add detail such as the Self Assessment category, and some transactions may need to be created separately.
• Receipts on the go. Scanning receipts and invoices is one of the ways GOV.UK lists for software to create records. You must still keep original records or copies, such as bank statements and invoices.
• Your other income. If you also have a job, rent or savings, the software must be able to report those on your tax return too.

What HMRC's finder showed on 16 October 2026

We read the product pages on HMRC's finder for our MTD software census. It counted 171 products. These are counts of products, not companies, and one company can list more than one.

"In development" means the software provider has committed to building the feature in time for the 2026 to 2027 tax return. That is a promise, not something you can test today. Xero, Sage Sole Trader & Landlord, Coconut, Crunch, Pandle, Tide Accounting and Graft were all in that group for CIS. When we counted again on 18 October 2026, Xero and TaxCalc had moved CIS to ready now, making 47 products ready now for sole traders and CIS out of 156 ready for sole traders. The latest counts are on our MTD software census.

Some products ready now for sole traders and CIS

Each product below showed sole trader and CIS ready now on its finder page on 16 October 2026. Where a vendor's page did not show one clear price for the plan, for example an offer price and a full price, we have not quoted one. The list is in no order of preference.

Our guide to free and low-cost CIS apps compares five low-cost apps, four of them in this table, on price and on who presses send.

What this means for you

GOV.UK describes two main types: software that creates digital records, and bridging software that connects to records you already keep, such as a spreadsheet. Within the first type, some products are phone apps built around recording jobs and costs as you go, and others are fuller bookkeeping software with a bank feed. Which fits depends on how many contractors, jobs, materials and suppliers you have. GOV.UK also says an agent can use the software on your behalf.

After choosing the type, GOV.UK says to check the software has all the features you need. For a CIS subcontractor, that means the finder showing CIS as ready now, not in development. GOV.UK lets you use more than one product, for example one for records and quarterly updates and another for the tax return. Only one product can be used for each separate submission, and they must work together. GOV.UK asks VAT-registered businesses to check whether their VAT software also works with MTD for Income Tax, or that their chosen software can meet their VAT needs.

Steps to choose your software

1. Use the free MTD check to confirm when MTD starts for you.
2. List every income source: CIS work, private jobs, rent, a job or savings.
3. Use HMRC's finder and check each product's page shows sole trader and CIS as ready now.
4. Choose the type: phone app, bookkeeping software with a bank feed, or bridging software.
5. Check the vendor's own site for the price you will pay after any offer, and whether VAT is added.
6. Try it with a month of real jobs, costs and CIS statements before your first quarter.
7. Check the CIS deductions HMRC adds to your tax return against your monthly statements before you submit.

The trades section has more guides on MTD and CIS, including whether MTD applies to CIS subcontractors.