Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment on (a) small business owners and (b) unrepresented taxpayers; and if she will consider delaying implementation until issues associated with the (i) cost, (ii) software availability, (iii) administrative burden and (iv) digital exclusion have been addressed.

HMRC are on track to implement Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax for those with income over £50,000 from April 2026, with a wide range of customers already testing the service in live running.

MTD modernises the tax system and will help self-employed individuals and landlords keep on top of their tax affairs, making their annual tax returns easier.

While many users will incur some cost in moving to MTD for Income Tax, many will also experience wider productivity gains through time savings and greater accuracy. We continually monitor the impacts of MTD and the latest published assessment is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/extension-of-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-self-assessment-to-sole-traders-and-landlords

The government has worked with the software industry to ensure there are free and low-cost software options available to support taxpayers, both represented and unrepresented, alongside a wider range of software choices to suit varying needs and budgets. HMRC's software choices page can be found here:

www.gov.uk/guidance/find-software-thats-compatible-with-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax#software-available-now

The government recognises that not everyone is able to interact with HMRC digitally. Taxpayers who are digitally excluded will be able to apply for an exemption from MTD. HMRC will provide further information about the exemption process in due course.