Every tradesperson knows that one job they have been meaning to get around to. Fix the fence. Sort the garage. Clear the van.
For thousands across the UK, Making Tax Digital has quietly become another one of those jobs. You know it matters. You know you will need to deal with it. But when you are pricing work, ordering materials and trying to get home before dark, tax paperwork naturally slips down the list.
Here is the thing, though: this particular job’s deadline has already started moving. MTD for Income Tax went live in April 2026 for anyone earning over £50,000 from self-employment, and the first quarterly update is due by 5 August 2026. The good news? You are far from alone — fewer than one in ten of those affected had signed up ahead of launch. The better news? Catching up is a smaller job than clearing the van.
Why Tradespeople Are Delaying
It is not laziness, and it is not carelessness. The reasons come up in every conversation with builders, electricians and plumbers:
- There is no spare time. Evenings go on quotes and invoices, not on researching tax software.
- It sounds like accountant territory. The name alone — Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment — suggests something you should not touch yourself.
- Nobody is sure who is actually affected. Thresholds, qualifying income, CIS deductions — the rules are real, but the explanations are usually terrible.
- The current system feels fine. The folder of receipts and the January accountant visit have worked for twenty years.
- It has been delayed before. MTD’s start date slipped more than once, so plenty of people assumed it would slip again. This time it did not.
What MTD Actually Means for a Trade Business
Strip away the jargon and it is three things: keep digital records of what comes in and goes out, send HMRC a short summary four times a year, and confirm the final figures at year end. It is not four tax returns, and it does not change how much tax you pay — only how the paperwork happens.
The CIS Wrinkle
For subcontractors under the Construction Industry Scheme there is an extra angle worth knowing. CIS deductions carry on exactly as before — MTD does not change what is taken from your payments. But cleaner digital records mean your deductions, expenses and mileage are all captured properly through the year, which is precisely what determines how quickly and how fully any refund comes back to you.
Catching Up Is a Smaller Job Than You Think
If you have done nothing yet, the catch-up is one quarter of records: 6 April to 5 July. Bank statements, invoices, CIS statements and whatever receipts survived the van. For most trades that is an afternoon — and once the first update is in, staying on top of it takes minutes a week.
The Bottom Line
Making Tax Digital has joined the list of jobs you keep meaning to get around to — but unlike the garage, this one now has deadlines and penalty points attached. The trades who sort it this month will barely notice the change. The ones who leave it until winter will be doing it the hard way, in the dark, with a points clock running.
123Tax was built for people who work from a van, not a desk: photograph receipts and CIS statements, send them over WhatsApp, and your records and quarterly updates are handled. No app, no spreadsheets, no evenings lost to software.