The true cost of MTD for Income Tax software: the data
We track what every HMRC-recognised Making Tax Digital for Income Tax tool actually costs per year — the cheapest plan that covers a typical sole trader or landlord, annualised and with VAT included, rather than the “from £X/month” headline. It's the only dataset we know of that does this across the whole market, and it's free to cite.
Catalogue reconciled 26 October 2026. Figures recompute from the live data, so they stay current. Method: how we calculate this.
Key findings
The same legal obligation costs anywhere from £0 to £288 a year depending only on which tool you pick. Of the 30 standalone tools, 14 can be used for £0 (Zoho Books, My Tax Digital, Pandle, Clear Books, SumUp Accounting, Sage Sole Trader, Self Assessment Direct, flonancial, TaxUpdates, TaxHeaven, DIY Tax, PaTMa, FreeAgent, Coconut). Separately, 5 banks bundle a free MTD tool for their own customers (Monzo, Starling, Tide Accounting, Lloyds Bank, ANNA Self Assessment) — see every free-with-a-bank-account deal.
The “from £X/month” trap
Headline prices are quoted monthly and ex-VAT. Annualise them and add the VAT most sole traders and landlords can't reclaim, and the real cost is higher than it looks:
| Tool | Headline | Reads as | True £/yr (incl VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sage Accounting | £20/mo | £240/yr | £288/yr |
| Landlord Vision | £19.97/mo | £239.64/yr | £287.57/yr |
| QuickBooks | £10/mo | £120/yr | £144/yr |
| FreeAgent | £10/mo | £120/yr | £144/yr |
| Zoho Books | £10/mo | £120/yr | £144/yr |
| Hammock | £8/mo | £96/yr | £115.20/yr |
| Xero | £7/mo | £84/yr | £100.80/yr |
| Sage Sole Trader | £7/mo | £84/yr | £100.80/yr |
| Clear Books | £5/mo | £60/yr | £72/yr |
| MTDsorted | £5/mo | £60/yr | £72/yr |
Full ranking, cheapest first
| # | Tool | Type | True £/yr (incl VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoho Books | Cloud accounting | Free |
| 2 | My Tax Digital | Cloud accounting | Free |
| 3 | Pandle | Cloud accounting | Free |
| 4 | Clear Books | Cloud accounting | Free |
| 5 | SumUp Accounting | Cloud accounting | Free |
| 6 | Sage Sole Trader | Cloud accounting | Free |
| 7 | Self Assessment Direct | Cloud accounting | Free |
| 8 | flonancial | Bridging | Free |
| 9 | TaxUpdates | Bridging | Free |
| 10 | TaxHeaven | Tax filer | Free |
| 11 | DIY Tax | Tax filer | Free |
| 12 | PaTMa | Landlord specialist | Free |
| 13 | Affordable MTD | Bridging | £19.99/yr |
| 14 | 123 Sheets | Bridging | £23.70/yr |
| 15 | Landlord Studio | Landlord specialist | £25/yr |
| 16 | VitalTax | Bridging | £36/yr |
| 17 | QuickFile | Cloud accounting | £72/yr |
| 18 | MTDsorted | Cloud accounting | £72/yr |
| 19 | Provestor | Landlord specialist | £99/yr |
| 20 | Xero | Cloud accounting | £100.80/yr |
| 21 | Hammock | Landlord specialist | £115.20/yr |
| 22 | Taxd | Bridging | £120/yr |
| 23 | Coconut | Cloud accounting | £129.99/yr |
| 24 | untied | Tax filer | £129.99/yr |
| 25 | TaxCalc | Bridging | £134.40/yr |
| 26 | QuickBooks | Cloud accounting | £144/yr |
| 27 | FreeAgent | Cloud accounting | £144/yr |
| 28 | APARI | Tax filer | £144/yr |
| 29 | Landlord Vision | Landlord specialist | £287.57/yr |
| 30 | Sage Accounting | Cloud accounting | £288/yr |
Ranking covers the 30 standalone tools. 5 bank-provided tools (Monzo, Starling, Tide Accounting, Lloyds Bank, ANNA Self Assessment) are free with that bank's own account and shown in the finder rather than ranked here.
Cite this data
Journalists and writers are welcome to use these figures with a link back. Please cite as:
MTD Software Finder, “The true cost of MTD for Income Tax software”, www.whichmtdsoftware.co.uk/data (updated 26 October 2026).
Want the full per-tool breakdown, a specific cut (landlords, the self-employed, free options), or a quote? The site is built and maintained by Dominic Roe, a Data Engineer & Business Intelligence Developer — email dom@whichmtdsoftware.co.uk.
Explore the data
Independent and not affiliated with HMRC. Figures are kept current but can change at any time; always confirm on the vendor's own site. Not tax advice.