New research finds that many Brits are unaware of the upcoming changes to Making Tax Digital which will bring in quarterly accounting for many freelancers and landlords from April 2026.
Self-employed individuals and landlords earning more than £50,000 a year will have to keep digital financial records and make quarterly updates to HMRC from April 2026, under the government's Making Tax Digital (MTD) legislation.
The countdown to MTD for Income Tax has begun, with an existing government pilot scheme now open to any self-employed individual or landlord.
"Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is a transformative change that will improve tax collection and support small business productivity. One of the best ways self-employed or those with property income can prepare is by joining the testing phase now. Signing up early means they can get familiar with the new system, with exclusive access to our dedicated Customer Support Team, ensuring a smooth transition when they are mandated." Craig Ogilvie, HMRC Making Tax Digital director.
However, research conducted by accounting software provider FreeAgent indicates that many UK taxpayers are unsure about what's in store. Its survey of senior decision-makers at UK SMEs has revealed that there is still a large amount of uncertainty about the impact that these new legislative changes will have on small businesses.
The biggest tax shake-up in a generation
FreeAgent has described the changes as the "biggest tax shake-up in a generation". Its findings highlight significant gaps in understanding and readiness for digital tax, with one in five small businesses polled (21%) admitting they don't fully understand the next stage of Making Tax Digital, and one in ten saying that they have never even heard of it.
When asked about the short-term impact, more than a third of respondents (37%) said they were positive about them, while a quarter (25%) said they were not convinced about the benefits. Only half (53%) of respondents agreed that MTD in general would be beneficial to small businesses in the long term, while 52% said the government had not provided sufficient information on what the legislation will mean for them.
"Hopefully the next 12 months will see business owners given the clarity and information they need to feel confident about the changes that Making Tax Digital will bring to them, and ready to comply with the latest rules when they come into effect next April." Roan Lavery, ceo, FreeAgent.
Around a third (31%) of business owners polled said they feared Making Tax Digital could create additional pressure for them when it comes to managing their tax affairs.
The world's first tax submission from space
In a bid to show that making Tax Digital can work from anywhere, FreeAgent has enabled a UK small business to make history by filing the world's first tax submission from space - under the pilot scheme for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
FreeAgent worked with Tunbridge Wells-based music teacher Jennifer Maslin, her accountants Maslins Accountancy and experts from aeronautics firm Sent into Space to send a high-altitude balloon and tablet computer to a height of more than 26,000m, before accessing the business's live accounting data in FreeAgent's software and submitting the tax update to HMRC via a secure satellite connection.
Roan Lavery, ceo of FreeAgent, said: "Making Tax Digital is the biggest change for UK tax in more than a generation, but we know that many small businesses are still apprehensive about the legislation and how it will impact them. That's why we wanted to show how straight-forward and manageable it is for small businesses and accountants to work together to submit tax updates to HMRC through FreeAgent - even in space!"
Written by Rachel Miller.