Making Tax Digital: What CIS Subbies Need to Know

19th February 2026 | Hudson Contract

Making Tax Digital is nearly here – be aware but keep calm. That’s our message to CIS subbies over the biggest change to self-assessment rules in a generation.

From April, sole traders and landlords who earned more than £50,000 in the 2024-25 tax year must use HMRC-compatible software to report their income and expenses with the first quarterly reports due in July.

Under the new system, those with qualifying income will need to:

Create, store and correct digital records of their self-employment. and property income and expenses
Send quarterly updates to HMRC
Submit their tax return and pay tax due by January 31 the following year

Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson Contract, said: “Making Tax Digital sounds daunting but it really isn't. You don't need a new accountant and you don’t need to change what you're doing – you just need to keep digital records and report them quarterly alongside the normal process you already have for submitting your end-of-year self-assessment.

“There’s been confusion in the market, with some accountants recommending changing from sole trader to limited company accounts – which adds cost, complexity and IR35 risk – and others hiking their fees. Our message is that you shouldn’t accept either of those options.

“We've done the legwork of looking at different solutions, and decided to recommend Grenfell James, a specialist accountancy firm, which provides a straightforward, affordable solution that lets you keep your current accountancy arrangements in place for everything but MTD if you wish.

“MTD kicks off in April with the first quarterly submission due in July. Our advice is to sign up to a trusted service now and don’t lose any sleep over it.”

Grenfell James offers a number of service levels from simply providing the MTD recording and reporting tool for £10/month plus VAT, to a full accountancy service.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is being introduced in phases: from April 2027 for those earning over £30,000, and from April 2028 for those earning over £20,000, meaning the vast majority of subbies will eventually be affected.