Making Tax Digital · South West
Making Tax Digital accountants in Bath
If you have had a letter from HMRC about Making Tax Digital in Bath, or you are not sure whether your income puts you in the first wave, this is the service. We assess your position, set up the digital records and handle every quarterly deadline for clients across South West, online, at a fee agreed before we start.
from £99 · fixed setup, then from £35/quarter
Next deadlines
- MTD quarterly update deadline (7 August, 7 November, 7 February, 7 May)
- VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
- VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
- VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
Who this is for
Making Tax Digital for Bath
Sole traders and landlords in Bath with qualifying income over £50,000 who are already in MTD for Income Tax, those over £30,000 joining in April 2027 and £20,000 planned for April 2028, VAT-registered businesses still filing from spreadsheets or non-compliant software, and anyone who received an HMRC letter about digital record keeping and wants it handled rather than explained.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Your MTD start date confirmed from your 2024/25 qualifying income and HMRC's phased thresholds
- MTD-compatible software chosen, set up and connected to HMRC with digital links from bank feeds
- Digital record keeping configured so every transaction meets the requirements without re-keying
- Quarterly updates submitted to HMRC by the 7th following each quarter, from your reconciled records
- The year-end final declaration prepared and filed in place of the traditional Self Assessment return
- MTD for VAT setup and the first return filed for businesses still on spreadsheets or old software
How it works
Making Tax Digital from Bath, step by step
Tell us your situation
A short message or call about what you do and what needs filing. We ask the questions that determine the right package and nothing more.
Fixed fee in writing
You receive one price for the work, confirmed by email before anything starts. It does not change if the job takes longer than we expected.
Send records, review the draft
Records come by WhatsApp or email. We prepare the draft, explain the figures in plain English and answer your questions.
We file, you get the receipts
Once you approve and the fee is settled, we submit electronically and forward the HMRC or Companies House acknowledgement the same day.
Why IGI
The IGI way of working, in Bath
The price for making tax digital is published on this page and is what a client in Bath pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for making tax digital are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Bath client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Bath to pay for, which is why the fee is the same here as anywhere in England; the work is done by people in the UK who answer the same day.
Continuity matters in making tax digital: the person who prepared last year's work for your Bath business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.
Plain English, with the numbers. Every draft for Bath comes with a short explanation of what the figures mean and what, if anything, you should do about them.
You stay in control of making tax digital: drafts go to Bath clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Bath
Bath is in South West, in the BA1 postcode district, England. Income tax in England follows the UK rates: 20% basic to £50,270, 40% higher to £125,140 and 45% additional, with the personal allowance of £12,570 tapered away above £100,000. National Insurance, VAT and Corporation Tax are UK-wide, and Stamp Duty Land Tax applies to property purchases.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Kingsmead | 0.3 mi | W |
| Crescent Gardens | 0.3 mi | NW |
| Dolemeads | 0.4 mi | SE |
| Beechen Cliff | 0.4 mi | S |
| Westmoreland | 0.5 mi | W |
| Hatfield Buildings | 0.5 mi | SE |
| Hat and Feather Yard | 0.5 mi | NE |
| Bathwick | 0.5 mi | E |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Salary versus dividends
Paying yourself from a company involves two routes with different tax treatment. Salary through payroll is a company expense and builds a National Insurance record; dividends come from post-tax profit at lower personal rates. Undocumented drawings that are neither become director's loans, with a 35.75% section 455 charge if not repaid within nine months of the year end.
Director's loan accounts
The most common tax problem in owner-managed companies is an overdrawn director's loan account: drawings taken during the year that were never declared as dividends or salary. The company faces a 35.75% charge on the balance outstanding nine months after the year end, and the director may have a benefit in kind. We review the account before every year end to clear it properly.
The VAT registration threshold
Watching the rolling twelve-month turnover figure is one of the quiet jobs of monthly bookkeeping, because the £90,000 VAT threshold arrives silently. Crossing it brings quarterly returns, Making Tax Digital software and a decision about schemes. Crossing it late brings a bill for VAT you could not recover from customers and a penalty for failing to notify.
Corporation Tax rates and marginal relief
Companies pay Corporation Tax at 19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% on profits over £250,000. Between those figures marginal relief applies, producing an effective rate that rises gradually and a marginal rate of 26.5% on each pound in the band. The thresholds are divided by the number of associated companies, so a director with two companies has thresholds of £25,000 and £125,000 for each.
Late filing penalties
Penalties are the clearest reason to work to deadlines. A Self Assessment return one day late costs £100 regardless of whether any tax is due; three months late adds £10 a day. Late company accounts start at £150 and reach £1,500, and double if the previous year was also late. None of this is negotiable afterwards except through a narrow reasonable-excuse appeal.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
MTD for Income Tax replaces one annual return with quarterly digital updates and a year-end declaration, submitted from software. The threshold is gross trading and property income, measured two years earlier, and started at £50,000 in April 2026 before falling to £30,000 in April 2027. Anyone affected needs digital record keeping in place before their start date, not after.
The Self Assessment calendar
Four dates govern Self Assessment: 5 October to register, 31 October for paper returns, 31 January to file online and pay, and 31 July for the second payment on account. Missing the January date triggers an automatic £100 penalty before any tax is even considered, so we treat it as the fixed point around which the rest of the year is planned.
Questions
Making Tax Digital questions from Bath
What does the £99 readiness check and setup include?
Confirmation of your start date, choice and setup of MTD-compatible software suited to your business, bank feeds connected, the chart of categories mapped to HMRC's reporting lines, the authorisation of the software with HMRC, and a short walkthrough so you know how to capture receipts and invoices day to day.
Can I keep using my spreadsheet?
Only with bridging software that links the spreadsheet digitally to HMRC, and the links must be digital, not copy-and-paste. For VAT this remains workable; for Income Tax the quarterly category reporting makes proper software far less effort. We set up whichever approach suits you and explain the trade-off honestly.
When does Making Tax Digital for Income Tax apply to me?
It depends on your gross self-employment plus property income on your 2024/25 return: over £50,000 means you joined from 6 April 2026; over £30,000 means 6 April 2027; over £20,000 is planned for April 2028. Below £20,000 there is currently no requirement. We check your figures and confirm the date in writing.
What do I actually have to do under MTD for Income Tax?
Keep records of income and expenses digitally in compatible software, send HMRC a quarterly update summarising them by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and submit a final declaration with any adjustments and other income by 31 January. The tax payment dates are unchanged.
What are the penalties under MTD?
A points-based system: one point for each late quarterly update or declaration, and a £200 penalty once you reach four points, with the count resetting after a period of compliance. Late payment penalties start at 3% after 15 days. The first year has been described by HMRC as light-touch, but points still accrue.
I am a landlord with a job. Does MTD apply to my rental income?
Yes, if your gross rental income, added to any self-employment income, exceeds the threshold for your start year. Employment income does not count towards the threshold but is reported in the final declaration. Jointly owned property has simplified rules allowing the income-only reporting of your share each quarter.
Do you have an office in Bath?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Bath and every other UK postcode remotely, with records sent by WhatsApp or email and everything filed electronically. The absence of local premises is why the fee for making tax digital is the same in Bath as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is making tax digital in Bath really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Bath pays and what a client in any other part of England pays. It is confirmed in writing before work starts and the invoice matches the quote. Where a higher package applies because your situation is more complex, we say so at the quote stage, never afterwards.
Let us take the deadlines off your plate in Bath
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.