When Making Tax Digital was announced, we watched the same thing happen to us, our families, and our friends, all landlords, one by one.
Our accountants started quoting fees two to three times higher than our usual yearly tax return, just to handle MTD compliance. And when we pushed back, the answer was always the same: "We'll need you to get all your income and expenses together in a spreadsheet first."
That stopped us in our tracks. If we were already doing all the hard work of gathering the data ourselves, why were we paying someone else to press the submit button?
When we went looking for an alternative, we found that most MTD software had been built with large businesses in mind, not landlords. It wanted to link to bank accounts, required complex setup, didn't handle joint property ownership well, and was costly on top of everything else. None of it was built for someone like our mums, dads, uncles, or aunts.
SimplifyMTD was built from scratch for UK landlords who want to comply with Making Tax Digital themselves, without paying an accountant to do it for them, and without needing an accounting degree to figure out the software.
It was designed with our own mums, dads, uncles, aunts, and friends in mind. If they can use it easily, we know we've got it right.
It's deliberately simple. Enter your income and expenses each quarter, and at year end enter your other income and allowances, such as pensions, savings interest, and reliefs, either manually or by uploading a spreadsheet if you prefer. Whichever works for you. We send everything directly to HMRC, and that's it.
SimplifyMTD currently handles your quarterly submissions in one place. Final Declaration support is a planned feature and is not currently available; when released, it is designed so your quarterly submissions and Final Declaration would be completed in the same platform — one login, one platform, all your HMRC filing requirements covered. While Final Declaration support is not yet available in SimplifyMTD, you can still use the platform for your quarterly updates. The Final Declaration can be completed at year end by your accountant — they can use your downloaded SimplifyMTD records as the starting point, which makes their work straightforward and keeps their fees focused on the year-end advice rather than data entry. If you do not use an accountant, you can use other HMRC-compatible software to file the Final Declaration. Your quarterly submissions remain valid regardless of which route you use.
SimplifyMTD might not be right for everyone. Some people prefer the comfort and reassurance of working with an accountant, and that's completely understandable.
But it's worth knowing that under HMRC's new MTD rules, HMRC now calculates your tax for you. All you need to do is provide the correct information. That makes filing your own returns easier than it has ever been. Tax genuinely does not need to be taxing.
One thing worth being aware of, your biggest risk when using any MTD software is not providing complete and accurate information. But this is equally true when using an accountant. Most accountants caveat their work with exactly the same condition: their advice and submissions are only as accurate as the information you provide them. With SimplifyMTD, you're in control of that information from start to finish.