What is the best MTD software for decorators?

No single product is best, and HMRC recommends none. On 18 October 2026, 156 products on HMRC's finder were ready for sole traders, and 47 of them for CIS deductions on the tax return.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) means keeping digital records, sending HMRC an update every quarter and filing your tax return through software. It starts on 6 April 2027 if your self-employment and property income before expenses was over £30,000 in 2025-26, unless it was over £50,000 in 2024-25, when you should already have started. For a decorator, three things shape the choice: a mix of homeowner and CIS work, paint bought from merchants, and quiet winter months.

Homeowner jobs and CIS jobs in the same year

Under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), HMRC's guide, CIS 340, says painting and decorating is regarded as a construction operation, and GOV.UK lists decorating as work the scheme covers. Whether anything is deducted depends on who pays you.

CIS 340 says that if a contract mixes included and excluded work, all of it comes within the scheme. If deductions are taken, GOV.UK says to record your total pay before deductions as income and the deductions as CIS deductions. Under MTD, HMRC adds the CIS deductions it holds to your tax return, and you must check them before you submit. Any refund is requested separately through HMRC online services.

Paint from the merchant

A contractor works out your deduction after taking off the materials you paid for directly, without VAT if you are VAT registered. CIS 340's own worked example is a painter: on a £600 job before VAT, with £200 of paint, the 20% deduction comes off the £400 labour, so £80 is taken. GOV.UK says the contractor can ask for evidence, such as receipts, and will estimate the cost if you have none. In our reading, an access tower hired from a hire firm is plant hire, which CIS 340 says can be treated as materials; one you own cannot. So your software should let you photograph each merchant receipt and link it to a job. The decorator expenses guide covers what you can claim.

VAT and the reverse charge

If you are VAT registered, you already file VAT returns through software under Making Tax Digital for VAT. The VAT domestic reverse charge list includes painting or decorating the inside or the external surfaces of any building or structure. It applies to standard and reduced rate services reported within CIS, where your customer is registered for VAT and CIS, unless they tell you in writing they are an end user. HMRC's technical guide says it does not apply to a private domestic customer, but a builder working for a homeowner is not an end user, so your invoice to that builder can still be reverse charge. On a supply and fix job, the paint is normally part of one supply, so the reverse charge covers the full invoice. GOV.UK says to make sure your software can deal with it.

Quiet winter quarters

GOV.UK says that if you had no income or expenses in an update period, you must still send your quarterly update. If you know you will owe less than last year, you can ask HMRC to reduce your payments on account, each usually half of last year's bill.

What HMRC's finder showed on 18 October 2026

We read every product page on HMRC's finder for our MTD software census. These are counts of products, not companies.

Some products are both types, so those rows overlap. Since our first count on 16 October 2026, Xero and TaxCalc have moved to ready now for CIS. "In development" means the provider has committed to building the feature in time for the 2026 to 2027 tax return. In our reading, the finder's CIS entry shows a product can report CIS deductions on your return, not that it tracks monthly statements or issues reverse charge invoices.

What this means for you

If you only work for homeowners, any of the 143 for individuals could do, so choose on receipt capture and price. If a builder pays you even occasionally, look for one showing CIS as ready now. If you are VAT registered, add Making Tax Digital for VAT, or GOV.UK lets you use two products that work together, as long as only one is used for each separate submission.

Steps to choose your software

1. Use the free MTD check, scaling a trade begun mid-year up to 12 months first. If your only trade stopped, tell HMRC instead.
2. Sort last year's jobs into homeowner work and work for builders or other contractors.
3. On HMRC's finder, check each product shows individual software, sole trader, and CIS if a contractor pays you, as ready now.
4. If you are VAT registered, ask the vendor whether it issues reverse charge and normal VAT invoices in the same quarter.
5. Check you can photograph a merchant receipt and link it to a job.
6. Check the vendor's own site for the price after any offer, and whether VAT is added.
7. Before you submit your tax return, check the CIS deductions HMRC adds against your monthly statements.

The trades section has more guides for decorators, including how to sign up for MTD as a decorator.