What is the best MTD software for gas engineers?

There is no single best product, and HMRC recommends none. On 18 October 2026, 156 products on HMRC's finder were ready for sole traders, and 47 of them were also ready 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 (over £50,000 in 2024-25: already started). For a gas engineer, the choice turns on jobs inside and outside the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), card takings, parts, the van and VAT. The rules below are as checked on GOV.UK on 18 October 2026.

Most of your jobs are outside CIS

CIS 340, HMRC's guide to the scheme, says private householders are not contractors. It includes installing heating and power supply systems, and gas mains, but excludes repairing, servicing and maintaining heating and power supply systems. HMRC's CIS manual counts gas as a power supply and says replacing even a central heating boiler is not installing a system of heating.

But if you install a system for a contractor who is working for a householder, the contractor must still operate CIS on what they pay you. And if a contract mixes included and excluded work, all payments under it come within the scheme.

Does CIS apply to plumbers and heating engineers has the job-by-job list.

Where a deduction is taken, GOV.UK says to record your total pay before deductions as income, and the deductions as CIS deductions. HMRC adds the CIS deductions it holds to your MTD tax return, and you must check them before you submit.

Card takings, parts and the van

GOV.UK describes three ways software creates records: linking to your business bank account, scanning receipts and invoices, or typing entries in. GOV.UK says a booking app or till system that does not create your records need not be digitally linked to your MTD software. Where you only know income after costs, it says to record the full amount and the costs separately. In our reading, that fits a card payout with fees already taken off.

Keep merchant invoices for parts. On a CIS job, the contractor works out your deduction after taking away VAT and the materials you paid for directly, and can ask for receipts as evidence. In our reading, receipt capture that links an invoice to the job matters more than a bank feed alone.

For a van you have not claimed capital allowances on, GOV.UK's flat rate for 2026-27 is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p. If you are sure you will use the flat rate, you need no digital records of actual van costs, so, in our reading, a mileage log matters more. The gas engineer expenses guide covers what you can claim.

VAT and the reverse charge

The domestic reverse charge applies to standard and reduced rate building services reported within CIS, where your customer is registered for VAT and CIS, unless they tell you in writing they are an end user. In a section on utility firms, HMRC's technical guide gives installing a boiler as work outside CIS and the reverse charge, but says installing full heating systems can be caught. GOV.UK says to make sure your software can deal with the reverse charge. If it cannot show the amount, add wording to the invoice saying the customer accounts to HMRC.

What HMRC's finder showed on 18 October 2026

Our MTD software census read every product page on HMRC's finder.

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 CIS item shows a product can report CIS deductions on your return, not that it tracks monthly statements. The finder has no entry for the reverse charge, bank feeds or mileage logs.

What this means for you

If nearly all your work is servicing, repairs and boiler swaps for householders and landlords, any of the 143 for individuals could do, so choose on how your records arrive. If a heating firm or builder pays you for installs, pick one showing CIS as ready now. If you also have a PAYE job, HMRC adds that pay to your MTD tax return, so, in our reading, check Employment (PAYE) is ready now too.

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 installs for contractors and everything else.
3. On HMRC's finder, check each product shows individual software and sole trader as ready now, plus CIS if contractors pay you and MTD for VAT if you want one product for both.
4. Ask the vendor whether it links merchant receipts to jobs, handles card payouts and keeps a mileage log.
5. Check the price after any offer, and whether VAT is added.
6. Try it with a month of real jobs, card payouts and CIS statements.
7. Before you submit your tax return, check the CIS deductions HMRC adds against your monthly statements.

Then see how to sign up for MTD as a gas engineer, and the trades section for more guides.