Making Tax Digital · Plumbers
Making Tax Digital for plumbers: 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 plumbers
A self-employed plumber doing call-outs, bathrooms and the odd builder's job is over £30,000 of turnover long before the year's out, and the parts bill is the reason: a £3,000 bathroom is £3,000 of turnover even when half of it was the suite. Over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026 means 6 April 2027.
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 plumbers' numbers
A plumber took £47,000 in 2025 to 2026: bathrooms, leaks, a run of radiators and one builder's job with £1,900 of CIS taken off. £17,500 went on suites, copper, fittings and the van. HMRC's figure is £47,000, so 6 April 2027.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £47,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £17,500
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £1,900
- What reached the bank
- £45,100
- HMRC's figure
- £47,000
Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027
Over £30,000 in the 2025 to 2026 tax year, so it starts on 6 April 2027. That tax year has ended, so the figure HMRC checks is the one on your 2025 to 2026 return. Only an amended return before 6 April 2027, or all your trade and property income stopping, changes it, and a short first year gets scaled up to 12 months (GOV.UK, qualifying income, 11 September 2026).
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 plumbers
Installing water systems is construction work on GOV.UK's list, so a builder paying you to first fix and second fix a new bathroom deducts 20% from the labour. The emergency call-outs and bathroom replacements you do for homeowners carry no deduction. Both count in full towards your Making Tax Digital figure.
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 plumbers lose
- The merchant's trade account, paid monthly, with the parts for six jobs on one statement.
- Call-out money paid in cash at the door and spent on diesel the same day.
- The bathroom suite the customer paid you for, then you paid the supplier for, which has to appear as both income and expense.
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 plumbers ask
If the customer buys the suite and I only fit it, is the turnover lower?
Yes. Turnover is what you invoiced. If the customer paid the showroom directly, that money never went through you and isn't your income. If you supplied it and charged for it, the whole amount is turnover, with the suite as an expense.
Does Gas Safe work change anything?
Not for Making Tax Digital. Gas work is the same self-employment income. Your Gas Safe registration is an expense, and it goes into the expense totals with the rest.
I'm a plumber with a bit of rental income. Does the flat count?
Yes. Qualifying income is self-employment income and property income added together, before expenses. £26,000 of plumbing plus £9,000 of rent is £35,000, which is over the line for April 2027.
I'm a plumber on £28,000 turnover. Do I need MTD software yet?
Not for April 2027, because that date needs over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026. The next check is 2026 to 2027: over £20,000 brings you in from 6 April 2028. GOV.UK says £20,000 or under is automatically exempt. Clean records now mean the first update is a tap.
Does HMRC sign me up to Making Tax Digital automatically?
You sign up, or an agent does it for you. GOV.UK says you need to be registered for Self Assessment and to have sent a tax return in the last two years, and you may be asked to prove who you are on your phone. GOV.UK also says that from September 2026 HMRC started signing up people in the 2026 group who hadn't done it themselves, using only the details it holds, so do it yourself before 6 April 2027 and get the details right.
A missed quarterly update when I'm out on emergencies all week: what's the penalty?
From 2027 to 2028 each late update is a penalty point, and four points means £200, with £200 more for every late one after that. One point falls away after 24 months, but at four you clear them only by filing on time for 12 months and sending anything outstanding from the previous 24. The update is category totals your software adds up from invoices you've already sent.
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)
