Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Trade PA keeps your business records together. Quarterly updates to HMRC are planned for this workflow, but live submissions are not yet available while production access is pending.
Where this is up to
What is changing
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax replaces the once-a-year Self Assessment routine with digital record keeping and four updates a year. It starts on 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, then extends to over £30,000 from April 2027 and over £20,000 from April 2028.
In practice it means two things. Your income and expenses have to be recorded digitally as you go, not reconstructed from a carrier bag of receipts in January. And you send HMRC a summary every quarter using software that connects to them.
The four updates
Each quarter covers a fixed period and is due about a month after it ends.
| Quarter | Period covered | Update due |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 6 April to 5 July | 7 August |
| Q2 | 6 July to 5 October | 7 November |
| Q3 | 6 October to 5 January | 7 February |
| Q4 | 6 January to 5 April | 7 May |
Trade PA shows the next deadline on the tax screen and counts down to it, so a quarter end does not creep up on you.
How Trade PA handles it
Your records build themselves
Every invoice you raise and every receipt you log in Trade PA is already a digital record. Expenses are mapped to the Self Assessment categories HMRC expects, so nothing has to be re-sorted at quarter end.
- Income from your invoices, including CIS invoices
- Expenses categorised to the SA103 boxes
- Mileage, materials and subcontractor payments
- Vans, tools and equipment in an asset register, with capital allowances worked out on the basis you choose
One screen for your tax position
The tax screen shows what you have logged so far this year, what is due next and when. When you ask HMRC for a calculation, Trade PA shows their figures and how they were worked out, including the CIS already deducted from you by contractors, which counts against your bill.
You approve every submission
Before anything goes to HMRC you see exactly what will be sent. Nothing is filed automatically and the voice assistant never files on your behalf. You tap submit, or you do not. Every submission is recorded with HMRC's receipt so you have a record of what was sent and when.
Your records leave with you
One button in Settings exports everything Trade PA holds for you as spreadsheets: customers, invoices, quotes, jobs, expenses, materials, mileage, subcontractor payments and CIS statements. Yours to keep, or to hand to an accountant, whether or not you stay with us.
Connecting to HMRC
You link Trade PA to HMRC once, using your own Government Gateway login on HMRC's own site. Trade PA never sees your Gateway password. You can disconnect at any time from Settings.
What Trade PA does not do yet
Trade PA covers digital record keeping and the quarterly updates. It does not handle your end of year submissions or the Final Declaration that finishes off your tax year. You will need your accountant or other compatible software for that step.
Making Tax Digital for VAT is in development and will follow its own HMRC recognition process. Trade PA already tracks VAT on sales and purchases through the quarter.
Built for the trades
Trade PA is job management and bookkeeping software for UK sole traders and small contracting firms. Quotes, invoices, job cards, RAMS, expenses, mileage and CIS, with a voice assistant so you can get a receipt or a job logged from the van instead of typing on a phone in someone's loft.
The tax side is not bolted on. It reads the same records you were already keeping to run the business, which is the whole point of keeping them.
Not tax advice
Figures shown in Trade PA are estimates based on the records you enter and, where available, HMRC's own calculation. They are not a substitute for advice from an accountant, and thresholds and rules can change. Check gov.uk for the current position, or ask your accountant. Our Terms of Service set out where responsibility for your tax sits.