Accounting

Making Tax Digital · East London

Making Tax Digital accountants in Rainham, Havering

From April 2026, sole traders and landlords in Rainham with qualifying income over £50,000 must keep digital records and send HMRC four quarterly updates a year, with the £30,000 threshold following in April 2027. We tell you exactly when it applies to you, get the software and records in order, and run the submissions for a fixed fee.

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 Rainham

Sole traders and landlords in Rainham, Havering 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 Rainham, Havering, step by step

  1. Scope the job

    We find out what you need filed, when it is due and what state the records are in, and tell you which fixed-fee package applies.

  2. Agree the price

    The fee is confirmed in writing. There is no hourly billing and nothing added for questions during the work.

  3. Hand over the records

    Photographs, PDFs, software access or a spreadsheet, sent however suits you. We confirm what we have and what is missing within two working days.

  4. Approve, then we submit

    You review the draft with our explanation, sign off, and we file. Receipts, copies and the next deadlines come back to you immediately.

Why IGI

Why Rainham businesses file with IGI

No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Rainham clients know the fee for making tax digital before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.

Deadline-first: the dates that matter for making tax digital are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Rainham client and chased before they arrive.

Online only, UK based. There is no office in Rainham 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.

You get one contact for making tax digital, not a queue. Rainham, Havering clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.

We explain making tax digital in the words Rainham, Havering business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.

You stay in control of making tax digital: drafts go to Rainham clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.

Local facts

About Rainham, Havering

Rainham, Havering is in East London, within Havering, in the RM13 postcode district, England. For businesses in England the tax rules are those set by the UK Parliament: the 20/40/45% income tax bands, Class 4 National Insurance for the self-employed at 6% and 2%, Corporation Tax at 19% to 25%, and Stamp Duty Land Tax on property. Business rates are set locally by the council.

Nearby places we also serve for making tax digital
PlaceDistanceDirection
Rainham Village0.4 miNW
Rainham and Wennington0.6 miSE
Wennington, Havering1 miSE
South Hornchurch1 miN
Beam Park2 miNW
River, Barking and Dagenham2 miW
Village Ward2 miNW
Old Dagenham2 miNW

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

The 60-day property CGT return

Selling UK residential property that was not your main home for the whole period of ownership triggers a separate Capital Gains Tax return, due within 60 days of completion along with payment of the tax. This is in addition to the annual Self Assessment. The gain is taxed at 18% or 24% depending on your income band, after the £3,000 annual exempt amount.

Crypto records and reporting

HMRC treats cryptoassets as property. Swapping one token for another, spending crypto or gifting it are all disposals for Capital Gains Tax, and staking and lending rewards are income. Gains are computed under pooling rules with same-day and 30-day matching. From 2026 HMRC receives data from exchanges worldwide under the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, so unreported activity is increasingly visible.

Allowable expenses

Expense claims are where a return is won or lost in an enquiry. The test is wholly and exclusively for the trade; where a cost is mixed, the business proportion can be claimed if it can be identified. Capital items such as equipment and vans are relieved through capital allowances rather than as expenses, except under the cash basis where they are simply deducted when paid.

Record keeping

HMRC requires records of all income and expenses, bank statements, invoices and receipts to be kept for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline of the tax year they relate to, and companies must keep records for six years from the end of the accounting period. Digital copies are acceptable. Under Making Tax Digital the records must be kept in compatible software.

Workplace pensions and auto-enrolment

Workplace pension compliance is part of payroll, not separate from it. Each pay period the payroll assesses who is eligible, calculates employer and employee contributions on qualifying earnings between the lower and upper thresholds, and sends the contribution file to the scheme. The minimum total is 8%, and many employers choose to contribute more as a recruitment advantage.

Employer National Insurance

Employers pay National Insurance at 15% on each employee's earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold, following the April 2025 changes. The Employment Allowance offsets up to £10,500 of this for eligible employers, which for a small team often removes the liability entirely, but companies where the director is the only employee do not qualify.

The trading and property allowances

Small side incomes are covered by two £1,000 allowances, one for trading and one for property, which remove the need to register or report income below that level. Once income exceeds £1,000, the allowance can be used in place of expenses, a choice worth making deliberately: a freelancer with £900 of costs is better off with the allowance, one with £3,000 is not.

Questions

Making Tax Digital questions from Rainham

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.

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.

Does MTD change when I pay tax?

No. Payments on account remain due on 31 January and 31 July, and the balancing payment on 31 January after the tax year. HMRC shows an estimated liability after each quarterly update, which is useful for setting money aside, but it is not a demand.

What is in a quarterly update?

Totals of income and expenses for the quarter by category, taken straight from the digital records. No accounting adjustments, no tax calculation and no payment. The updates are cumulative, so an error in one quarter is corrected in the next. From £35 a quarter we prepare, review and submit each one from your records.

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.

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.

How do I get started from Rainham, Havering?

Message us on WhatsApp or email with a sentence about your business and what you need. We reply in working hours with any questions and a fixed fee for making tax digital. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Rainham clients are set up within a day.

Which deadlines matter most for making tax digital?

The next four dates that apply to making tax digital are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Rainham clients we diarise every one of them from the day you join and send reminders before each, so the work is done in good time rather than in the last week before a penalty.

Start the conversation from Rainham

Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.

WhatsApp for a fixed quote