What is the best MTD software for landscapers?

No single product is best, and HMRC recommends none. On 18 October 2026, 156 products on HMRC's finder were ready for sole traders, 47 of them for CIS. Which suits a landscaper depends on who pays you.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) means keeping digital records, sending HMRC quarterly updates and filing your tax return through software. For a landscaper, the choice turns on the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), seasonal work, cash takings and machinery.

Do you need a CIS feature?

Only if a contractor pays you for work inside the scheme. CIS 340 says private householders are not counted as contractors, so a homeowner paying you direct takes no CIS deduction. For work paid by a builder or other contractor, HMRC's CIS manual draws these lines:

CIS 340 adds that if a contract mixes work inside and outside the scheme, all payments under it come within CIS, even on separate invoices. Our guide to whether CIS applies to landscaping and gardening has more.

If deductions are taken, GOV.UK says to record your pay before deductions as income and the deductions separately. HMRC adds the CIS deductions it holds to your MTD tax return, and you must check them before you submit.

Busy summers and quiet winters

The MTD test looks at the whole tax year. Qualifying income is your self-employment and property income before expenses, also called turnover, from your previous year's return. Over £50,000 in 2024-25 meant starting on 6 April 2026, over £30,000 in 2025-26 means 6 April 2027, and over £20,000 in 2026-27 means 6 April 2028. Start part-way through and HMRC annualises a sole trader's income where it has the information, so 6 months is doubled. The regulations allow a just and reasonable basis where that would be unreasonable, which in our reading could cover a first year of only busy or quiet months.

Updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and GOV.UK says you must still send one for a period with no income or expenses.

Cash, card and tip receipts

Under the cash basis, GOV.UK says all payments count: cash, card, cheque or any other method. It also says some transactions may not appear in full in your bank feed and must be created separately. In our reading, cash you never bank is one of those, so quick entry on a phone matters. Where you only know income after costs, GOV.UK says to record the full income and the costs separately, which in our reading fits a card-reader payout with fees taken off.

GOV.UK says to keep proof such as receipts, bank statements and sales invoices. In our reading that includes green waste tip tickets, so receipt capture helps. With turnover under £90,000, GOV.UK lets you record each item simply as income or an expense.

Machinery, the van and the cash basis

Since 2024-25 the cash basis has been the default for sole traders. Under it, GOV.UK lists machinery and vans as allowable expenses, with different rules for cars, so a new mower goes in as an ordinary cost. Under traditional accounting, equipment, machinery and vans go through capital allowances instead.

For the van there is also the flat mileage rate: for 2026-27, 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p. You cannot use it for a vehicle already claimed through capital allowances or as an expense. GOV.UK says that if you are sure you will use it, you need no digital records of actual costs, so a mileage log may matter more than van receipts.

What HMRC's finder showed on 18 October 2026

We counted what each product page on HMRC's finder states for our MTD software census; we have not tested the products. "In development" means the provider has committed to building the feature in time for the 2026 to 2027 tax return.

The other 13 of the 156 are for agents only. The finder lists CIS under tax returns, so in our reading it means CIS deductions on your return, not tracking monthly statements. It does not show bank feeds, receipt scanning or mileage logs.

What this means for you

If all your work is for homeowners, any of the 143 could cover the MTD side, so choose on how your records arrive. If you build patios, walls or drives for a contractor, or landscape new builds, even for part of the year, pick one showing CIS as ready now.

Or hand it over: our Trades Tax plan is £35 a month including VAT. Your bank feed becomes your MTD quarterly updates, your CIS deductions are tracked all year, and you sign off every figure. Our tax plans start once our HMRC registrations are complete. Until then you can join the waitlist, and no payment is taken.

Steps to choose your software

1. Use the free MTD check to see when MTD starts for you.
2. Add up last year's takings before costs.
3. Sort last year's jobs into homeowner work and contractor work with CIS deductions.
4. Decide how records will arrive: bank feed, phone entries, receipt photos or a spreadsheet.
5. Filter HMRC's finder for sole trader, individual software, CIS if you need it, and that record type.
6. Check the vendor's site for a bank feed, receipt capture, a mileage log and the full price.
7. Try it with a month of real takings, tip tickets and van miles.

The trades section has more, including landscaping expenses and signing up as a landscaper.