Guides

Tax, sorted — in plain English

Straightforward guides to Making Tax Digital, Self Assessment, expenses and more — written for people who do their own tax.

Getting your tax right

Making Tax Digital explained

Who’s affected, the 2026–2028 dates, quarterly updates and the Final Declaration.

MTD for landlords

What Making Tax Digital means for rental income, and how the finance-cost credit works.

MTD for sole traders

How self-employed record-keeping and filing change under MTD for Income Tax.

Self Assessment: step by step

What Self Assessment is, who must file, key dates, and how to get it right.

Allowable expenses for the self-employed

What you can and can’t claim, plus the £1,000 trading allowance and simplified expenses.

How to file a VAT return under MTD

The 9 boxes, the threshold, and how digital VAT filing works.

CIS explained for subcontractors

How the Construction Industry Scheme deductions work — and why you may be owed a refund.

Choosing software

How to choose MTD software

A practical checklist for picking Making Tax Digital software you can rely on.

MTD software vs spreadsheets

Why spreadsheets fall short under Making Tax Digital, and what to use instead.

Bridging software vs full MTD software

The difference between bolt-on bridging tools and software that keeps your records too.

Prefer a tool? Try the free tax calculators, or see how FTrak keeps it all in one place.