Changing your MTD software: what GOV.UK says about timing and records

acrenvo.com/guides/mtd-changing-software, last reviewed 19 October 2026

You can change the software you use for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax during a tax year or at the end of one. GOV.UK says: “You can change the software you use for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax at any time, but you may find it easier to change your software at the end of the tax year.” Whenever you change, you still keep each year’s digital records. In GOV.UK’s words: “If you change your software, you will still need to store your digital records for at least 5 years from the submission deadline for each tax year.”

Morag is fictional, but her situation will be familiar to a fair number of landlords. She lets out three flats and started using MTD for Income Tax at the beginning of the tax year. A few months in, she has found that the software she chose does not suit the way she keeps her records, and she would like to move to another product. Before she does, she wants to know whether she is allowed to change in the middle of a year, what happens to the records she has already made, and what she needs to keep. This guide sets out what GOV.UK says on each of those questions, in GOV.UK’s own words wherever it gives them.

When you can change your software

GOV.UK does not set a fixed window for a change. You can change the software you use for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax at any time, but you may find it easier to change your software at the end of the tax year. GOV.UK does not say why the end of the year may be easier, but the steps further down show the difference: a change after the year has ended leaves earlier records where they are, while a change during the year means bringing the current year’s records with you.

You also do not have to keep everything in one product. You may choose to use different compatible software for different income sources. So if, like some landlords, you also run a small business, you could keep your letting in one product and your business in another. The guide to MTD with property and self-employment income explains how the two kinds of income are reported.

If you change your software after the end of a tax year

One route for Morag would be to wait until the tax year is over and start the new year in the new product. GOV.UK says what that means for the years before.

In other words, the old years can stay outside the new software, as long as you have kept them safely and can still open them. GOV.UK adds a general point that applies to any change. You should also make sure you can access your digital records from previous tax years. For example, you may need to export your digital records from your old software and store them securely. GOV.UK does not say how to export records from any particular product, or which formats a new product can read, so we do not try to say either. If you need help with issues relating to your software, contact your software provider.

If you change your software during a tax year

If Morag decides not to wait, the current year’s records have to end up in the new product. If you use software to create digital records, you will need to either:

• import your digital records into your new software for the current tax year
• recreate the records in your new software

GOV.UK does not say which of the two to choose, or how to do either in a particular product, so that is a point to raise with the providers before you start.

If you use bridging software, the change has two parts, which GOV.UK sets out like this. If you use software that connects to your records (bridging software) you will need to link your new software to your record-keeping software. You must remove the link between your old bridging software and your records. The guide to spreadsheets and bridging software explains how that kind of set-up works.

Keeping your records for five years

Changing software does not shorten how long you keep anything. If you change your software, you will still need to store your digital records for at least 5 years from the submission deadline for each tax year. GOV.UK gives an example.

GOV.UK’s page on creating digital records puts the same rule another way. You will need to keep your digital records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline for a tax year. This is the same amount of time you need to keep records for Self Assessment. That is why the copy of your old records still matters after you have moved. The guide to digital records explains what a record is and what goes into one.

If an accountant helps you

GOV.UK deals with a change of accountant under its own heading on the same page, but some of what it says there touches on software too. If you change, add or remove a tax agent, digital records from previous tax years will not be transferred automatically between agents. It also asks you to make sure that if you use different software products, these work together to meet your needs. If you are changing your accountant as well as your software, the guide to changing or leaving your MTD accountant sets out GOV.UK’s steps for that.

Choosing the new product

Acrenvo does not recommend a product for you, and GOV.UK does not say any product is easier to move to than another. If you are looking at what else is available, the software selector narrows the options around the kind of income you have and how you keep records, and the comparison table sets out prices and features side by side. Each of the products we compare also has a page of alternatives, listing the other products the selector keeps for the same people.

Questions people ask about changing MTD software