Yes. Accountants and managed services keep your records and send your Making Tax Digital (MTD) updates and tax return. Unless you are exempt, you start on 6 April 2027 if your 2025-26 income before costs was over £30,000.
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. It means digital records, four quarterly updates a year and a tax return. This page follows GOV.UK as checked on 19 October 2026.
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 a plumber's service has to handle
| Your work | What the service must get right |
|---|---|
| Householder jobs and emergency call-outs | Every job is income, however it is paid. If you only know the amount after a fee, as with a card payout, GOV.UK says to find the full amount and record the income and the costs separately. |
| Daily merchant receipts | Each one is a digital record with an amount, a date and a category. If your turnover is under £90,000, GOV.UK lets each item be marked simply as income or an expense. |
| The van | Van costs or a mileage log, depending on how you claim it. |
| Work paid by builders | Pay before deductions recorded as income, and CIS deductions kept as tax already paid. A contractor that takes a deduction must give you a statement within 14 days of the end of each tax month. With gross payment status, nothing is taken off. |
| VAT, if you are registered | Householder work on normal VAT rules, and the domestic reverse charge on builder work where it applies. |
Which of your work is CIS
HMRC's CIS manual (CISR14090) says replacing even a central heating boiler is not installing a system of heating, and CIS 340 excludes the servicing and maintenance of heating systems. A householder paying you direct is not a CIS contractor. Installing a whole heating system, or fitting a bathroom, for a builder is covered. The CIS guide for plumbers goes job by job.
You must register for VAT once your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or if you expect it to in the next 30 days alone. The domestic reverse charge applies only to standard or reduced rate CIS work, for a customer registered for VAT and CIS who has not told you in writing that they are an end user or intermediary supplier. It never covers workers supplied by employment businesses, and it does not apply to private domestic customers.
Who offers it
These are examples, not a recommendation or a full list. Each price is as shown on the provider's own page on 19 October 2026.
| Provider and plan | What is listed | Price as shown |
|---|---|---|
| Pie MTD Package | MTD registration, 4 quarterly updates and the tax return | £199 a year, VAT not stated |
| Taxfix MTD Full Support | An accountant does the bookkeeping, quarterly filings and the tax return; you review and sign off | £39.99 a month inc VAT |
| Mazuma Sole Trader Basic | Monthly data capture and bookkeeping, tax return, acts as your agent; 20 transactions a month | £38 + VAT monthly |
| GoForma Start + MTD | Dedicated accountant, FreeAgent, quarterly MTD submissions and the tax return | £68 a month, VAT not stated |
| Gorilla Accounting MTD Comply | You keep the records; software, MTD registration, quarterly updates and the tax return | From £49 + VAT, presented as a fixed monthly fee |
| Gorilla Accounting MTD Complete | Adds full dedicated accountant support, year-end accounts, VAT returns and support with CIS returns for up to 2 subcontractors | From £79 + VAT |
Our own service: your bank feed becomes your MTD quarterly updates, your CIS deductions are tracked all year, and you sign off every figure. Our Trades Tax plan is £35 a month or £350 a year including VAT. VAT returns add £10 a month including VAT, with the monthly Trades Tax 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 plumbers or labourers. That can make you a CIS contractor with monthly returns. We don't do CIS contractor returns, so a full accountancy firm suits you better.
- You want to start now. Our tax plans are not open yet.
- You trade as a limited company or partnership, or run payroll. We don't do those.
- You want tax planning or a named accountant. An accountancy firm offers more than bookkeeping and tax returns.
What to check before you sign
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Authorisation | The agent sends a request through HMRC. Never share your HMRC password. |
| Agent services account | An agent needs one to sign you up, and HMRC is requiring, in stages, anyone paid to deal with it for clients to register. |
| Money-laundering supervision | HMRC rejects an agent services account application without approved supervision. |
| Insurance | GOV.UK says professional indemnity insurance can help protect you if things go wrong. Ask whether they hold it. |
| Price | Whether it includes VAT, and the yearly total after any offer. |
| What is included | Tax return, VAT returns, CIS refund request, any transaction cap. |
| Main agent | Only a main agent can send your tax return or request a repayment. |
What this means for you
Starting 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 updates, which must still be sent; the earliest a late update can earn a point for them is 7 August 2028. Your 2025-26 tax return, due by 31 January 2027, sits outside MTD, so ask whether the service files it too. Even with an agent, the figures on your return are your responsibility.
Steps to choose a service
- Use the free MTD check to confirm your start date, counting householder and builder work together.
- Count a normal month: card payouts, merchant receipts and any CIS statements.
- Shortlist two or three services and ask each the questions above.
- Compare the yearly cost including VAT.
- Accept the authorisation request through HMRC as your main agent.
- Pass on CIS statements as they arrive, and check each update has gone.
The trades section has more, including what an accountant costs for plumbers and MTD software for plumbers.
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
Most of my work is for householders. Does the service need to know CIS?
Not for that work. CIS 340 says private householders are not contractors, so a homeowner paying you direct takes nothing off. It matters once a builder pays you for covered work, such as installing a whole heating system or fitting a bathroom.
Do I give the service my HMRC password?
No. HMRC's standard for agents says agents must never ask a client to share their HMRC sign-in details. The agent sends you an authorisation request through HMRC, and you accept it within 21 days.
Will a managed service get my CIS refund back?
Only if it is your main agent. Once you are in Making Tax Digital, HMRC adds your CIS deductions to your MTD tax return, and any refund is requested separately through HMRC online services. GOV.UK says a supporting agent cannot request repayments.
I buy parts at the merchant most days. Will that cost more?
It can. Some firms price by the number of transactions. Mazuma's Basic sole trader package listed 20 transactions a month on 19 October 2026, and its Standard package 70. Ask how many your plan covers before you sign.
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)
- Choose agents for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- How to use the digital handshake to get authorised as a tax agent (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- How to choose a tax agent (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- The HMRC standard for agents (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)
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Create digital records (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Submit your tax return (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- CISR14090: The Scheme: construction operations: building service systems (HMRC Construction Industry Scheme Reform Manual, 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: Pay tax and claim back deductions (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)
- Register for VAT: When to register (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Pie: Making Tax Digital (checked 19 October 2026)
- Taxfix: Making Tax Digital (checked 19 October 2026)
- Mazuma: Pricing, sole trader packages (checked 19 October 2026)
- GoForma: Pricing, sole trader packages (checked 19 October 2026)
- Gorilla Accounting: MTD packages (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.