Making Tax Digital · Solar installers
Making Tax Digital for solar installers: 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 solar installers
A self-employed solar installer supplying and fitting is over £30,000 of turnover on four or five systems, because the panels, the inverter and the battery are in the price. Over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means Making Tax Digital from 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 solar installers' numbers
A solar installer took £96,000 in 2025 to 2026: nine supply and fit systems for homeowners, three batteries, and labour for a solar company that deducted £2,000 of CIS. £58,000 went on panels, inverters, batteries, mounting kit, scaffold and the van. HMRC's figure is £96,000, and over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 meant 6 April 2026.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £96,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £58,000
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £2,000
- What reached the bank
- £94,000
- HMRC's figure
- £96,000
Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027 at the latest
Over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026 means 6 April 2027. If it was over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 as well, it should have started on 6 April 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 solar installers
Installing a power system is on GOV.UK's construction list, so a solar company or a builder paying you to fit panels and inverters deducts 20% from the labour. Homeowners paying you direct don't. If you supply the panels, the whole price is your Making Tax Digital turnover.
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 solar installers lose
- Panels and inverters paid to the distributor on a pro forma weeks before the job, so the two dates sit weeks apart.
- The electrician you pay to sign off the install, which makes you their contractor under CIS.
- MCS registration, scaffold hire and the DNO application fee, paid once and buried.
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 solar installers ask
I pay the kit up front and the customer pays on completion. Which quarter?
Record each on the day it happens, with its date: the panel invoice when paid, the customer's payment when received. The quarterly update is totals for the year so far; which year a payment belongs to is your accountant's call.
Does the battery add-on count as separate income?
It's all self-employment income from one business. A £4,000 battery sold with a system is £4,000 of turnover, and the battery you bought is an expense. It adds to the same total.
I pay an electrician to sign off every job. Am I a contractor under CIS?
Paying someone for construction work, which installing power systems is, makes you a contractor under the scheme. Register, deduct from their labour (20% if they're registered, 30% if not) and report monthly. Their invoices are your expenses.
Can my accountant handle Making Tax Digital for me?
Yes. GOV.UK says an agent can sign you up and act for you, updates included. They still need digital records of each income and expense, amount, date and category, so every panel invoice and every customer payment recorded on the day is what they send each quarter.
When's the first update due for the April 2027 group?
7 August 2027, for 6 April to 5 July. Then 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, each covering the year so far in category totals, so a job paid in two stages across a quarter end just lands in two totals.
Does a late update cost money straight away?
From 2027 to 2028 a late quarterly update earns a penalty point and the £200 penalty arrives at four, with £200 for each late update after that. Points expire after 24 months one by one; at four they clear only after 12 months on time and anything outstanding from the last 24 months sent. Nine installs a year is a small number of records; the update is minutes.
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)
