Tuesday 6th October marked six months since Making Tax Digital for Income Tax came into force on the 6th April 2026, a change that in its first year has required sole traders and landlords with annual revenues over £50,000 to keep digital records and update HMRC every quarter, rather than once a year.
With the change still in its infancy and rolling out to owners with revenues over £30,000 in 2027, leading business management platform Tide asked 500 qualifying business owners and landlords how much time the added admin of MTD will require from them. Their answer: six full days within the first year alone.
Time away from customers
Nearly half of the qualifying sole traders and landlords (44%) expect MTD admin to eat into their normal working hours, with more than 1 in 3 (36%) stating that this will be during time they would otherwise be serving paying clients and customers.
For many, the burden is heavier still: more than half (58%) expect it to take more than a working week, with more than 1 in 10 (13%) predicting that MTD will require more than 10 full days of their time in year one alone.
When the working day runs out, personal time is also paying the price. 38% expect to complete their MTD admin in the evenings, 35% at weekends and 32% during planned time off or while on holiday.
The price of Making Tax Digital
The research also reveals that this lost time comes at a cost. Based on respondents’ average daily revenue, the average six days lost to MTD admin equals £1,778 in income per business in the first year alone, or £1.5 billion* across the 864,000 qualifying businesses.
George Schmidt, CEO UK/Europe at Tide, comments:
“Six months in, business owners know what Making Tax Digital is. What they’re still counting is the time it takes: days away from customers, evenings, weekends and even holidays given up to increased tax admin.
“With the second quarter closing on the 5th October and the next update due by 7th November, now is the time to make MTD work around the business, not the other way round. Tide current account holders can submit MTD returns for free in the Tide app using our HMRC-recognised tool, so they can spend less time on tax and more time running their business.”
For further information on how Tide customers can take care of Making Tax Digital, visit: https://www.tide.co/making-tax-digital/