Making Tax Digital · Handymen
Making Tax Digital for handymen: do you need it?
170 days until it starts for sole traders over £30,000
Checked against GOV.UK, 14 October 2026.
The short answer for handymen
A self-employed handyman on small jobs is the trade most likely to sit near the line, so the check is worth doing properly: add up every job for 2025 to 2026, cash included, before any expenses. Over £30,000 means 6 April 2027. Between £20,000 and £30,000 means watch this year for April 2028.
The thresholds, from GOV.UK (26 March 2026): over £50,000 for 2024 to 2025 started on 6 April 2026, over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 starts on 6 April 2027, over £20,000 for 2026 to 2027 starts on 6 April 2028. All counted as turnover, before expenses.
The figure HMRC checks
HMRC checks your qualifying income: everything that came in from self-employment and property, before expenses. GOV.UK calls it turnover. Wages from a PAYE job don't count.
The figure is what you invoiced, not what landed in the bank. GOV.UK says the deductions a contractor takes count as advance payments towards your tax and National Insurance bill, and qualifying income is counted before expenses, so the 20% that came off is still part of your turnover.
A worked year, in handymen' numbers
A handyman took £26,000 in 2025 to 2026 across two hundred small jobs, no CIS. £4,200 went on fixings, sealant, blades, a few tools and fuel. HMRC's figure is £26,000, so not from April 2027. Over £20,000 in 2026 to 2027 brings it in from 6 April 2028.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £26,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £4,200
- HMRC's figure
- £26,000
Not yet: 6 April 2028, if 2026 to 2027 is over £20,000
Under £30,000 for 2025 to 2026, so not from April 2027. Over £20,000 in 2026 to 2027 brings it in from 6 April 2028.
Need it? Sort it in two minutes.
InstaQuote, 7 days free, then from £47 a month only if you carry on. ANNA opens from inside it, free for your first year. About 2 minutes.
- InstaQuote does the quotes, the invoices and the chasing.
- ANNA is the MTD software your updates go to HMRC through, free for your first year.
- You do the job.
- Not sure where to start? Reply to your welcome email and I'll set it up with you.
- ANNA gives you a personal tax calendar with reminders, so no quarter slips past.
- Prefer your accountant? They can still do it, and your records are ready for them.
I'm Tom, the founder. Ten years in the trade, every quote done in the van. If it's not quicker than what you do now, bin it and tell me why.
AdInstaQuote: 7 days free, then from £47 a month only if you carry on. ANNA: £0 monthly fee to start, MTD for Self Assessment free for the first year, and a personal tax calendar with reminders (anna.money, 14 October 2026). InstaQuote may be paid by ANNA if you open an account through us. ANNA's terms apply.
CIS and handymen
Most handyman work is for homeowners and landlords, who don't deduct anything. If a letting agent or a property company with a big construction spend pays you for repairs and decorating, they can be a contractor under CIS and deduct 20% from the labour; their paperwork tells you. Either way every job counts in full for Making Tax Digital.
The rate, from GOV.UK: 20% if you're registered for CIS, 30% if you're not, nothing if you have gross payment status. Whoever deducts must give you a statement, and that statement is your proof.
The records handymen lose
- Two hundred small jobs a year, half paid in cash, most never invoiced.
- Fixings and sealant bought a few pounds at a time at the DIY shed, receipts in the van door.
- Mileage between jobs, which is the biggest expense and the least recorded.
Every three months your software sends HMRC totals for each income and expense category, not the receipts themselves. The updates are due on 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and each one covers the tax year so far.
InstaQuote holds those quotes, invoices and expenses as you work, so they can go into your Making Tax Digital software as the digital records. It isn't that software itself. ANNA, our partner, is the software your updates and return go to HMRC through.
Questions handymen ask
I'm under £30,000 now. Why bother with records yet?
Because the April 2028 check uses your 2026 to 2027 turnover, which is this year, and over £20,000 brings you in. Clean records now mean the first quarterly update is a tap, not a weekend.
A letting agent sends me most of my work. Do they deduct CIS?
Only if they count as a contractor under the scheme, which depends on their construction spend. If they deduct, they must give you a statement, and your turnover is the gross amount before the deduction.
Cash jobs with no invoice. Are they income?
Yes. Every payment for your work is self-employment income, and HMRC's qualifying income is the total before expenses. Record each one on the day; the app does the adding up.
Two hundred jobs a year. Does Making Tax Digital want every one?
Every job needs a record: amount, date, category. GOV.UK says the quarterly update sends category totals, not the two hundred lines, so what matters is that each job is entered when it's paid. An app that invoices the job records it at the same time.
Does HMRC put me on it automatically when I go over?
GOV.UK says you sign up, or an agent does, once you need to use it, and you must be registered for Self Assessment with a return sent in the last two years. HMRC reviews your return each year to see if you're over the threshold, and for the 2026 group it began signing up anyone who hadn't done it themselves from September 2026, with only the details it already held.
Is there free MTD software for a handyman?
GOV.UK's answer is yes for simple tax affairs, with a warning that some free products limit transactions, and two hundred jobs a year is a lot of transactions. Through InstaQuote, ANNA's business account gives sole traders MTD for Self Assessment free for the first year; InstaQuote is 7 days free then from £47 a month.
Does InstaQuote file my Making Tax Digital updates?
No. InstaQuote holds the quotes, invoices and expenses so they can go into your Making Tax Digital software as the digital records; it isn't that software itself. ANNA, our partner, is the software your updates and return go to HMRC through, from the business account you open inside your InstaQuote account.
Checked against GOV.UK
- GOV.UK: Check if you're eligible for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 26 March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Work out your qualifying income (updated 11 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Send quarterly updates (updated 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Penalties for Income Tax Self Assessment volunteers (updated 12 March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 30 March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 13 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Create digital records (updated 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Find software that's compatible (updated 13 July 2026)
- GOV.UK: Apply for an exemption (updated 17 August 2026)
- GOV.UK: CIS deductions from your payments (read 14 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: HMRC's Transformation Roadmap (no MTD for Corporation Tax) (updated 21 July 2025)
- GOV.UK: What is the Construction Industry Scheme (what counts as construction work) (read 14 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: What you must do as a CIS subcontractor (deductions) (read 14 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: What you must do as a CIS contractor (statements, monthly returns) (read 14 October 2026)
