The first filing deadline for MTD has passed, yet only half of all eligible taxpayers have completed the filing

The first filing deadline for MTD for Income Tax passed on Friday, 7 August. HMRC expected 864,000 sole traders and landlords earning over £50,000 to register and complete the filing.

However, this has not proved to be the case. Recent figures released by HMRC show that only 436,000 filed by the end of the deadline.

Leading Midlands accountancy firm, Prime Accountants, has given some insight into why they believe the uptake has been so slow and what they believe the future of MTD will look like.

Paislei Goodley, a Director at Prime, said: “There has been a little bit of pushback on MTD. People don’t understand why it is happening because nothing is changing other than digital records.

“In many people’s eyes, they have always done their recordkeeping. So why change it when it has already worked for them up until this point?

“It is seen more as a hindrance. I have had people come and say to me, it’s more money, more time and more admin.”

This can be shown by the lack of uptake in people registering for MTD. Even though plans had been announced for over a decade, 249,000 eligible people still hadn’t registered.

Paislei said: “The training aspect has been one of the hardest parts. We have had so many calls coming in from people who don’t know what to do.

“Our teams have been really busy with lots of calls and screen sharing just to go over things, so people know what to do.”

While the first deadline has passed, three more are coming up.

Paislei said: “People need to start preparing early. Don’t wait until the quarter is up to do your record-keeping.

“If people are keeping their software up to date and doing submissions themselves. If you leave it to the end of the quarter, it makes it so much harder.

“Sorting it out early means that you’re going to have less stress when the next quarter comes around.”

While taxpayers may not be receiving penalties this year, penalties will be enforced in the  2027/2028 tax year.

Paislei said: “Don’t see MTD as a negative. It is a positive to help businesses keep on doing what they are best at.

“MTD is there to help you as well as to make sure you are keeping the right records. It allows you to go to your advisor and say that you’re coming close to a threshold rather than realising at the end of the year.

“The aim is to make people compliant, keep the right records and be as transparent as possible.”

For MTD support, contact Prime by visiting primeaccountants.co.uk or calling 0121 711 2468.