Free calculator
MTD for Income Tax software cost calculator
Enter how many of your clients are in MTD for Income Tax and how many are VAT-registered. The calculator shows what each main option would cost your practice a month and a year if you paid every client's software, with the sum behind each figure. Prices are the vendors' published list prices, checked 30 October 2026.
For 150 clients, the lowest list price here is TaxCalc MTD Quarterly Filer at £27.67 a month, and the highest is FreeAgent (sole trader plan) at £2,850 a month.
| Option | Per month | Per year | Per client a month | The sum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TaxCalc MTD Quarterly Filer | £27.67 | £332 | £0.18 | £332 a year ÷ 12 (up to 150 clients) | Bridging software: clients keep records in spreadsheets and TaxCalc sends the quarterly updates. 50% off for existing Tax Return Production customers. |
| Clear Books, flat fee | £100 | £1,200 | £0.67 | £100 whole-practice plan | £50 a month covers unlimited non-VAT clients; £100 covers the whole practice including VAT-registered clients. |
| Dext Solo | £325 | £3,900 | £2.50 | 130 × £2.50 | Non-VAT sole traders and landlords only, so it covers 130 of your 150 clients. Annual subscription; Dext sends the quarterly updates and the final return is filed in your tax software. |
| Clear Books, pay as you go | £570 | £6,840 | £3.80 | 130 × £3 + 20 × £9 | £3 per non-VAT client and £9 per VAT-registered client, per month. |
| QuickBooks Sole Trader Plus | £1,500 | £18,000 | £10 | 150 × £10 | Third-party price (Startups.co.uk); QuickBooks' own UK page showed no price when checked. |
| Xero Ignite | £2,700 | £32,400 | £18 | 150 × £18 | Per client, after the six-month introductory price. VAT-registered clients with more invoices may need a higher Xero plan. |
| FreeAgent (sole trader plan) | £2,850 | £34,200 | £19 | 150 × £19 | Landlord-only clients are on a £10 plan. Accountants pay only for the client licences they add. |
List prices from each vendor's pricing page, checked 30 October 2026, ignoring introductory discounts. Practice and partner pricing is often lower, so ask each vendor. Fiskl and HelloBooks are left out because neither was on HMRC's MTD for Income Tax software list when checked. Editor scores are independent and never for sale.
Software is the cheap part
Staff time on four quarterly updates per client a year, plus the final return, usually costs more than any subscription here.
Count clients by start date
Only clients over £30,000 start in April 2027. Buying for your whole list now pays for software nobody uses for a year.
Read the full comparison
Our guide to MTD software cost per client covers hosting, write-back and what to charge clients, and the tax prep category lists every tool we score.
Frequently asked questions
At scale, flat or banded practice pricing is cheapest. Clear Books charges £50 a month for unlimited non-VAT clients and TaxCalc's MTD Quarterly Filer costs £332 a year for up to 150 clients, against £10 to £19 a month per client for the main ledgers at list price.
Either. When the client pays for their own ledger, the software costs the practice nothing and the real cost is staff time on four quarterly updates a year. The calculator shows what it costs if the practice pays every client's subscription.
Xero, FreeAgent, Dext and TaxCalc publish prices excluding VAT. Clear Books does not say, and the QuickBooks figure comes from a third party with VAT added on top. Check each vendor's current page before you buy.
Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 started on 6 April 2026. Those over £30,000 start on 6 April 2027 and those over £20,000 on 6 April 2028. Qualifying income is turnover before expenses.
Also try the practice management cost calculator or get a tailored shortlist from the tool finder.