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The lowest-cost ways into MTD near £20,000

About 7 minutes to readLast reviewed 25 October 2026

What changed on : We linked a specialist word, where this guide first uses it, to the page that explains it, with no change to the facts.

Every change to this guide
  • : We linked a specialist word, where this guide first uses it, to the page that explains it, with no change to the facts.
  • : We added a sentence that gives the median paid starting price from our latest quarterly price report, with links to that report and to our record of price changes.
  • : Sofia's story now gives her own reason for expecting MTD, which is that she expects her turnover to pass the threshold, so it no longer reads as though MTD reaches income at or under it.

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Sofia is fictional. She is a self-employed mobile nail technician, and her turnover sits a little under £20,000. She expects her turnover to pass £20,000 in a year or two, and with income at that level she would rather not take on a monthly bill for software she has not needed so far. She wants to know what she can use for nothing, and what the catch is with each option.

This guide lists every free plan among the products we compare, with who each plan is for and the date we checked it. It does not pick a winner, because the right plan depends on the kind of income you have and how many properties, if any, you let.

What GOV.UK says about free software

GOV.UK says free products are available for those with simple tax affairs, but there may be limits on how the product can be used, for example a limited number of transactions. GOV.UK also says to always check with the software provider to make sure their software will meet your needs. That advice matters more for a free plan than a paid one, because the limits are where free plans differ most.

Every free plan among the products we compare

Among the products we compare, 14 have a free plan. They appear in alphabetical order, which is not a ranking, and we checked them between 12 September 2026 and 2 November 2026. Each plan’s note is where its limits are, so read it before you choose.

Free plans among the products we compare
Product and planWho the plan is forChecked onWhat the provider’s pages say
ANNA Money (MTD ITSA)
MTD for Landlords (2026-27 tax year)		Rental income only2 November 2026free for the 2026-27 tax year; ANNA has not published a price for later tax years; needs a connected bank account for rental income and expenses
Clear Books
Sole Trader Free / Property Free		No income, property or bank condition25 October 2026no transaction limits; quarterly updates and year-end MTD filing; mixed income needs a separate free plan for each business
flonancial
Free		No income, property or bank condition25 October 2026no subscription; flonancial says quarterly updates and the year-end tax return will always stay free and that any paid extras in future would be optional; quarterly updates send one income total and one expenses total, so each business or property source must have income below £90,000; for UK property, residential finance costs such as mortgage interest are sent to HMRC separately, but unused finance costs brought forward from an earlier year are not supported yet
FreeAgent
Free (qualifying bank account)		One kind of income, not both; a qualifying business bank account25 October 2026requires a qualifying NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle business account; Mettle requires at least one transaction per month; mixed property and self-employment income still needs a second Landlord account
Keepr
Free		Self-employment income only25 October 2026includes MTD for Income Tax quarterly updates and the final declaration for self-employment income, plus unlimited invoices, expenses, time and mileage tracking and accountant access; Keepr's pages say it does not handle UK property income
Landlord Studio
MTD Go		Up to three properties25 October 2026up to 3 properties; £5 charge per MTD submission on this plan
Monzo Business (MTD for Income Tax)
Lite		No income, property or bank condition25 October 2026the free Monzo Business plan; the MTD tool is built in at no extra cost, but you need to open a Monzo Business current account, which Monzo offers to UK sole traders and limited company directors
Pandle
Pandle		No income, property or bank condition25 October 2026free; includes bank imports, reports, MTD Income Tax submissions and no usage limits
PaTMa Property Manager
Free		Up to one property2 November 2026one rental unit; described as 'MTD ready'; includes a tax return report and compliance checklists; no Open Banking on this plan
Quarterwise
Free		One kind of income, not both; up to one property25 October 2026no card and no time limit; one property or one self-employment business, with manual entry and CSV import; includes quarterly updates, the tax return and deadline reminders
RentalBux
Free (until March 2028)		One kind of income, not both; up to one property25 October 2026for one property unit or one business; no card required; RentalBux says this plan is free until March 2028
Sage (Sole Trader)
Sole Trader Free		One kind of income, not both12 September 2026one income source; 5 sales invoices and 25 auto-categorised transactions per month; manual records are not capped
TradeKit
Free		No income, property or bank condition25 October 2026the plan your account moves to after the 30-day free trial; keeps income and expense records, mileage and receipt photos, unlimited quotes, 3 invoices a month, and your MTD quarterly updates and Final Declaration; jobs, customers, card payment links and unlimited invoices need the subscription
Zoho Books (UK)
Free		No income, property or bank condition25 October 20261 user plus 1 accountant; 50 receipt autoscans a month; described by Zoho as MTD for Income Tax ready for sole traders and landlords; you can add and reconcile bank accounts, with automatic bank feeds from Standard

Reading the conditions

The conditions fall into a few kinds. Some plans are for one kind of income only, rental or self-employment, so someone with both may need two plans or a different product. Some are limited to a small number of properties. One kind depends on holding a business account with a particular bank, which makes it free only if you already bank there or are happy to move. A few have no income, property or bank condition at all, although their own notes may still mention limits.

Some notes mention a date when a free plan ends, or a charge for each submission. A plan that is free today may not stay free for the whole time you need it, so the provider’s note is the part to read twice.

For Sofia, with one sole trade and no rental income, the plans for rental income only fall away first. What is left depends on whether the product handles self-employment income, on her bank, and on whether the plan’s own limits suit how many sales she records in a month. Each product’s own page shows which kinds of income it covers.

If no free plan fits

A free plan is not the only low-cost route. Bridging software sends figures from a spreadsheet you already keep, and the guide to spreadsheets and bridging software explains how it works and what to look for. The guide to free Making Tax Digital (MTD) software looks at several of these free plans in more detail. The software selector sorts every product by how well it fits your answers, then by price. If you are weighing a paid plan against a free one, the software cost calculator shows what a plan costs over 12 and 24 months. To see where a paid plan sits, our quarterly price reports found a median paid starting price of £8.13 a month for July to September 2026, and our record of price changes dates each move.

Each product with a free plan also has a page of alternatives, in the selector’s published order:

These comparisons set a product with a free plan beside one without:

If your income is at or below £20,000

You are automatically exempt and do not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if your qualifying income is £20,000 or less. If you are exempt, you will not have to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax but you must continue to report your income and gains in a Self Assessment tax return as normal. So you do not need any of these plans for MTD until your income goes over the line. The guide to going over £20,000 explains when that happens, and the guide to signing up voluntarily covers starting early. GOV.UK says you can sign up before you need to use the service, but it does not say whether someone whose qualifying income stays at or below the lowest threshold can volunteer.

Questions people ask about low-cost MTD software

Is there free MTD for Income Tax software?

There is free MTD for Income Tax software, although free plans can come with limits. GOV.UK says free products are available for those with simple tax affairs, but there may be limits on how the product can be used, for example a limited number of transactions. Of the products we compare, ANNA Money (MTD ITSA), Clear Books, flonancial, FreeAgent, Keepr, Landlord Studio, Monzo Business (MTD for Income Tax), Pandle, PaTMa Property Manager, Quarterwise, RentalBux, Sage (Sole Trader), TradeKit and Zoho Books (UK) have a free plan.

How do I choose between the free plans?

Start with the conditions, because each free plan is for a particular kind of income or a small number of properties, and some need a particular bank account. In GOV.UK's words, always check with the software provider to make sure their software will meet your needs.

Do I need software at all if my income is £20,000 or less?

Not for MTD, because GOV.UK treats that as an exemption. You are automatically exempt and do not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if your qualifying income is £20,000 or less. If you are exempt, you will not have to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax but you must continue to report your income and gains in a Self Assessment tax return as normal.

More in: Smaller and side incomes

This is the last guide in this stage, so the next one begins the following stage, Your income and property.

First in the next stage

MTD when your properties are split between an SPV and your own name

If some property is held personally and some sits inside a limited company, only one side is measured for MTD. This guide explains where that line falls, so portfolio landlords do not count the wrong income.

Other guides in this stage

See this stage on the guides page

Sources

This is general information, not tax advice. For advice on your own situation, speak to an accountant or tax adviser.

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