Yes. Several firms keep your books and send your MTD updates and tax return. Unless you are exempt, over £30,000 of qualifying income in 2025-26 means you start on 6 April 2027. Pick one that handles CIS and homeowner work.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) means keeping digital records, sending HMRC four quarterly updates a year and filing a tax return. Unless you are exempt, MTD has applied since 6 April 2026 if your qualifying income was over £50,000 in 2024-25, starts on 6 April 2027 if it was over £30,000 in 2025-26, and on 6 April 2028 if it was over £20,000 in 2026-27. Qualifying income is self-employment and property income before expenses.
Want your books sorted?
We sort your books and prepare your quarterly figures. You send them to HMRC yourself with free Making Tax Digital software.
Founding offer on Trades Tax (coming later), first 500 trades clients: £5 a month for your first 3 months, then £35 a month. Cancel any time. We’ll remind you before it changes. Prices include VAT. No payment is taken while you wait.
Are you ready for Making Tax Digital? Check your start date and what to sort first. It’s free and takes a minute.
What the service has to handle
| Your paperwork | Why it matters | Ask the service |
|---|---|---|
| Site work for a builder | CIS 340 counts installing lighting and power systems, but not repairing or extending an existing system on its own, nor security systems | Does it match each deduction to your statements? |
| Homeowner jobs | Private householders are not contractors, so no deduction is taken | Are they kept apart from CIS income? |
| CIS statements | Each contractor that takes a deduction must give you one within 14 days of the end of each tax month | Who chases a missing one? |
| Card payouts | In our reading, one payout often covers several jobs with the fee already taken off | Does it match payouts to jobs? |
| Wholesaler receipts | Contractors take no deduction from materials you paid for directly, and may ask for receipts | Can you snap receipts in an app? |
| Van, tools and scheme fees | Under MTD each record needs an amount, a date and a category | How are bigger purchases handled? |
| VAT invoices | Once you are registered, normal and reverse charge invoices can sit in the same quarter | Are VAT returns in the price? |
A contractor takes 20% from your labour if you are CIS registered, or nothing with gross payment status (which jobs are in CIS).
Once you are VAT registered, the domestic reverse charge applies to standard and reduced rate building services reported within CIS, where your customer is registered for VAT and CIS and has not told you in writing that they are an end user or intermediary supplier. It does not apply to a private domestic customer, or to workers supplied by employment businesses.
Who offers it
These are examples, not a recommendation or a full list. Each price was checked on the provider's own website on 19 October 2026.
| Provider and plan | What its page lists | Listed price |
|---|---|---|
| Pie MTD Package | MTD registration, 4 quarterly updates and the tax return, paid annually | £199 a year, VAT not stated |
| Taxfix MTD Full Support | Bookkeeping, quarterly filings and the tax return; you review and sign off | £39.99 a month inc VAT, first 3 months free |
| Mazuma sole trader Basic | Monthly bookkeeping, one tax return and acting as your agent with HMRC; 20 transactions a month | £38 a month + VAT |
| Gorilla Accounting MTD Comply | Software, MTD registration, quarterly updates and the tax return, for those keeping their own records | From £49 + VAT, on a page offering a fixed monthly fee |
| Gorilla Accounting MTD Complete | Adds full dedicated accountant support, VAT returns and support with CIS returns for up to 2 subcontractors | From £79 + VAT |
| GoForma Start + MTD | FreeAgent software, a dedicated accountant, the tax return and quarterly MTD submissions | £68 a month, VAT not stated |
| Our Trades Tax | Updates and tax return from your bank feed, CIS deductions tracked; you confirm every figure | £35 a month or £350 a year including VAT |
As a plain comparison: Pie's MTD Package was £199 a year on 19 October 2026, VAT not stated. Our Trades Tax plan is £350 a year including VAT.
With our Trades Tax plan, your bank feed becomes your MTD quarterly updates, your CIS deductions are tracked all year, and you sign off every figure. VAT returns add £10 a month including VAT, on the monthly plan only. It uses automated software, including AI, with the company's director accountable. Our tax plans start once our HMRC registrations are complete.
When another provider fits better
- You pay other electricians or labourers. That can make you a CIS contractor, with monthly returns. We don't do CIS contractor returns or payroll, so a full accountancy firm is the better fit.
- You want to start now, or want tax planning. Our tax plans are not open yet, and an accountancy firm offers more than bookkeeping and tax returns.
- You will keep the books yourself. Software can cost less: see the best MTD software for electricians.
What to check before you sign
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| HMRC agent services account | Needed to sign you up for MTD. HMRC now requires most people paid to deal with it for clients to register this way |
| Money-laundering supervision | By HMRC or another supervisory body; HMRC rejects an agent services account application without it |
| Professional indemnity insurance | The government decided against making it compulsory, so ask whether they hold it |
| Your HMRC password | Never shared. You accept their request with your own sign-in |
| Main agent | Only a main agent can finalise your overall tax position |
| Price | Whether VAT is included, and the price after any offer ends |
| Year end and CIS | Whether the tax return is included, and who requests any CIS refund |
What this means for you
If you start on 6 April 2027, your first update covers 6 April to 5 July 2027 and is due by 7 August 2027. The government said at the Budget on 28 October 2026 that people who must join in April 2027 get no penalty points for late 2027-28 quarterly updates, which must still be sent; the earliest a late update can earn a point for them is 7 August 2028. Four points means a £200 penalty.
HMRC adds your CIS deductions to your MTD tax return, and any refund is requested separately through HMRC online services. Your 2025-26 return, due by 31 January 2027, sits outside MTD, so ask whether the service files that too.
Steps to choose a managed service
- Use the free MTD check to confirm your start date.
- Sort recent jobs into CIS site work and homeowner jobs.
- Shortlist two or three services and ask the questions in the tables above.
- Compare the yearly cost including VAT, and what it becomes after any offer.
- Accept the authorisation request through HMRC as your main agent. Never share your password.
- Pass on each CIS statement as it arrives.
There are more guides in the trades section.
Hold your place on the trades waitlist
We’ll email you when Trades Tax opens, with the founding offer while places last. No payment is taken.
Questions people ask
Can one service handle my CIS site work and my homeowner jobs?
It should. HMRC's CIS 340 guide says private householders are not contractors, so a homeowner paying you direct takes no deduction, while a builder paying you for covered work must operate CIS. Ask how the service tells the two apart and matches each deduction to your statements.
Do they need my HMRC password?
No. HMRC's standard for agents says agents must never ask for a client's HMRC sign-in details. A new agent sends you a link, and you accept it with your own sign-in within 21 days. We never ask for your HMRC password.
Will the service get my CIS refund back?
Before you join Making Tax Digital, over-deducted CIS is claimed back through your Self Assessment tax return. Once you are in Making Tax Digital, HMRC adds your CIS deductions to your tax return, and any refund is requested separately through HMRC online services. Agree in writing who requests it and how it reaches you.
Are VAT returns included?
It varies. On 19 October 2026 Mazuma listed VAT returns as a £20 a month extra, before VAT, and Gorilla Accounting listed them on MTD Complete but not MTD Comply. Our VAT returns add-on is £10 a month including VAT, on the monthly Trades Tax plan only.
What if I pay a mate to help on site jobs?
Then you may be a CIS contractor yourself, with a monthly return due by the 19th after each tax month ends. We don't do CIS contractor returns, so a firm that does is the better fit. Gorilla Accounting's MTD Complete lists support with CIS returns for up to 2 subcontractors.
Can I use your service now?
Not yet. Our tax plans start once our HMRC registrations are complete. Until then you can join the waitlist, and no payment is taken.
Sources
- Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Create digital records (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Send quarterly updates (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Submit your tax return (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Self Assessment tax returns: Deadlines (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Choose agents for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Authorise an agent for taxes that use the digital handshake (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Get an HMRC agent services account (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Check if and when you need to register with HMRC (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- The HMRC standard for agents (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Raising standards: strengthening the regulatory framework and improving registration (GOV.UK consultation, checked 19 October 2026)
- Construction Industry Scheme: a guide for contractors and subcontractors (CIS 340) (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- What you must do as a CIS subcontractor: Get paid (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- What you must do as a CIS subcontractor: Gross payment status (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- What you must do as a CIS contractor: File your monthly returns (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Check when you must use the VAT domestic reverse charge for building and construction services (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- VAT domestic reverse charge technical guide (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Pie: Making Tax Digital (checked 19 October 2026)
- Taxfix: Making Tax Digital (checked 19 October 2026)
- Mazuma: Accounting services pricing (checked 19 October 2026)
- Gorilla Accounting: MTD packages (checked 19 October 2026)
- GoForma: Pricing (checked 19 October 2026)
- Budget 2026: Overview of tax legislation and rates (GOV.UK)
This is general information to help you understand the rules. It isn't tailored to your circumstances, so check your own position before acting on it.
Righto Tax is a trading name of NJG Consultancy Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 16095900. Registered office: Jubilee House, East Beach, Lytham St Annes, FY8 5FT.
What happens next
- Use the free Making Tax Digital checker to see your own start date and deadlines.
- See what Righto Tax for Trades does for you, and join the waitlist.
- Questions about this page? Email hello@rightotax.co.uk.