MTD compulsary letter-2026 self employed -no computer skills what to do ?

dinosaur66

hello -

received a letter yesterday about having to use MTD for my next tax return 2026 / already done 2025

no computers when i was at school and self employed market trader for 43 years and have no  computer ability

all this time i have kept pen and paper accounts and done all my own self assesment tax returns for decades

the language i read when i read about spreadsheets and online accounting are not words i am familiar with hence my worrying about being able to do MTD  myself

i retired from market trading in 2024 and am not vat registered for 25/26

my income for the 2025/2026 year will be under 50k per year but if you add bank interest from savings it will be about 66k in 2026 year approx

1/ is MTN  within scope of someone who has never had a single computer lesson

i use you tube to help me on most computers things when i get stuck but as this is my tax return and not something i can get wrong i would be wary of doing this.

2 / do accountants use self employed pen and paper books and transfer them to MTN and i read it has to be 5  submissions a year ? which never having used an accountant but having read there prices in there shop windows sounds like a expense as opposed to how it is now ie free

3/ does me being under 50k for the year but brought over by savings interest exempt me from MTD for a year -my guess not but it does not mention savings interest on the letter

i have read online sites for accountants doing tax returns for farmers who have never used a computer in there life that there is no exemption box for this scenario as if hmrc believe everyone is computer savvy

sheramber

Have you looked at  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax

dinosaur66

yes but hmrc assumes we are all  computer literate to a moderate degree

i am not stupid / i keep all my books up to date and have done for years / but with pen and paper

just a bit worried about forced into something that is outside my comfort zone and i have no say over and no idea how to use

BridgetTheCat

If all your paperwork is in order and you just lack confidence in entering the data in hmrcs system it might be worth getting a bookkeeper (cheaper than an accountant and more used to dealing with this low-level stuff) to handle that part for you, or even hold your hand while you do it yourself. I used to do it all the time when I was freelance.

Grumpy_chap

Can you engage the service of a local Accountant or Book-Keeper to do the uploads on your behalf?

dinosaur66

there is a new shop book keepers bottom of my road

a few young 20 somethings in there

in the window it says

full tax return £950 plus vat

book keeping £ 250 plus vat

not sure what this means for 4 quartley hmrc submissions and usual 1 yearly full return

£2000 plus ?

to do my 2 mins of landlord property accounts that have have full figures for and requires the entry of a few numbers / total figure combined /total insurance combined / total property management /maintenece combined /

property interest 

1 min of savings accounts which i have full figures for and requires a few seconds to enter the number and hmrc are sent by the banks anyway

10 mins of ebay accounts which i have full figures for again on the return just a few numbers to enter

now i have done HMRC returns for 40 years albeit most of those years on the old fashioned paper returns / now i will have to try and adapt and learn  or pay a few grand for something i previously did for free in 20 mins

dinosaur66

sorry grumpy old man time by me on this thread

i know i will have to try and see if i can do do this myself

heard the word said  never seen a spreadsheet or excell/ or any of the other term when i looked up what this means for me

i can see hmrc have there own version of this to download

i do not think it does but  does anybody know for sure with the over 50k self employemnt income if banks savings interest is part of the equation as if it is not i will be under 50k in earnings 2026 and exempt for 1 more year at least

eskbanker

If you've been familiar with the principle of rounding up information in order to complete paper tax returns then it shouldn't be particularly challenging to switch to submitting that information online - you obviously have some tech capabilities if you've registered as a member of a web forum and posted hundreds of times, plus conducting research via YouTube!

sheramber

dinosaur66 said:

sorry grumpy old man time by me on this thread

i know i will have to try and see if i can do do this myself

heard the word said  never seen a spreadsheet or excell/ or any of the other term when i looked up what this means for me

i can see hmrc have there own version of this to download

i do not think it does but  does anybody know for sure with the over 50k self employemnt income if banks savings interest is part of the equation as if it is not i will be under 50k in earnings 2026 and exempt for 1 more year at least

There are details here of webinars and YouTube videos to help 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/help-and-support-for-making-tax-digital

scroll down to  

Information for sole traders and landlords

 

uknick

The income threshold of £50k, then dropping to £30k, relates to business income from your sole trades, not total income.

This is covered in this HMRC link;

Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax - GOV.UK

where it says;

Working out your qualifying income

Your qualifying income is the total income you get in a tax year from self-employment and property.

All other sources of income reported through Self Assessment, such as income from employment (PAYE), a partnership or dividends (including those from your own company), do not count towards your qualifying income.

HMRC will assess your gross income (also called your turnover) before you deduct expenses.

For example, your gross income (income before you deduct expenses) could be:

• £25,000 from rental income
• £27,000 from self-employment income

In this example, your total qualifying income would be £52,000.

dinosaur66

thank you very helpful