Accounting

Making Tax Digital · Scotland

Making Tax Digital accountants in Stirling

Making Tax Digital is the biggest change to how the self-employed in Stirling report to HMRC since Self Assessment began. The full MTD service from £299 a year covers software, quarterly updates and the year-end declaration. VAT-registered businesses still on spreadsheets get compliant with the £129 setup and first return. Fixed fees, agreed in writing.

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 Stirling

Sole traders and landlords in Stirling 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 Stirling, 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

What you get in Stirling

No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Stirling 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 Stirling client and chased before they arrive.

We serve Stirling remotely by design: records by WhatsApp or email, drafts back for approval, filing electronic. The saving on premises is passed to you in the fee for making tax digital.

Continuity matters in making tax digital: the person who prepared last year's work for your Stirling business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.

Plain English, with the numbers. Every draft for Stirling comes with a short explanation of what the figures mean and what, if anything, you should do about them.

Approval before filing is a rule, not a courtesy. For making tax digital in Stirling, every submission to HMRC or Companies House follows your written go-ahead.

Local facts

About Stirling

Stirling is in Scotland, in the FK8 postcode district, Scotland. Tax in Scotland differs from the rest of the UK on earned income: six bands with a 21% intermediate rate and a 48% top rate, identified by an S prefix on the tax code. The interaction between Scottish rates on salary and UK rates on dividends makes the salary-and-dividend split for Scottish directors a distinct calculation, and Land and Buildings Transaction Tax replaces Stamp Duty.

Nearby places we also serve for making tax digital
PlaceDistanceDirection
Riverside, Stirling0.6 miNE
Cambuskenneth0.8 miNE
Torbrex0.9 miSW
Raploch, Stirling0.9 miNW
Braehead, Stirling0.9 miSE
Cornton1 miN
St Ninians1 miS
Broomridge1 miS

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

CIS deductions

CIS turns construction subcontractors into advance taxpayers: a fifth of every labour payment goes to HMRC before they see it. Registering keeps the rate at 20% rather than 30%; gross payment status, for established businesses with a clean record, removes deductions altogether. The annual return is where the overpayment comes back, and filing it early brings the refund sooner.

Confirmation statements and identity verification

Companies House has tightened its requirements under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act: every company needs a registered email address and an appropriate registered office, every statement includes a lawful-purpose declaration, and every director and PSC must verify their identity. The confirmation statement, due annually with a £50 fee, is where most of this is confirmed.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, extends to those over £30,000 in April 2027 and is planned for £20,000 in April 2028. It requires digital records in compatible software and four quarterly updates to HMRC each year, with a final declaration replacing the traditional return. Payment dates are unchanged.

Late filing penalties

Lateness is expensive in a way that compounds. For individuals, £100 immediately, then daily penalties, then percentage-based ones at six and twelve months, with interest running on unpaid tax throughout. For companies, Companies House penalties scale with delay and double on repeat, and HMRC adds its own for a late CT600. Filing on time is the cheapest tax planning there is.

Payments on account

A common surprise in Self Assessment is the January payment that is far larger than expected. That is the balancing payment for the year just ended plus the first payment on account for the year ahead, which HMRC sets at half of the bill just calculated. We put the figure in your hands months ahead and tell you how to adjust it legitimately when circumstances change.

The Self Assessment calendar

The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. Anyone new to Self Assessment must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which their untaxed income began. The online return and the balancing payment are due by 31 January, with a second payment on account on 31 July where they apply. Paper returns have an earlier deadline of 31 October and are rarely sensible.

Director's loan accounts

A director's loan account records money moving between a director and the company that is not salary or dividend. If the director owes the company money nine months and one day after the year end, the company pays section 455 tax at 35.75% of the balance, refundable only when the loan is repaid. Loans over £10,000 are also a benefit in kind unless interest is charged at HMRC's official rate.

Questions

Making Tax Digital questions from Stirling

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.

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.

Can I do MTD myself without an accountant?

Yes, if you are comfortable keeping the records digitally and submitting four updates and a declaration each year on time. Many sole traders do. The value we add is in the setup being right, the categories mapping correctly to HMRC's lines, the deadlines never being missed and the year-end declaration including the adjustments and allowances that reduce your tax.

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.

What is the full MTD service?

From £299 a year: software subscription guidance, digital record review each quarter, the four quarterly updates submitted, and the year-end final declaration prepared and filed with capital allowances, adjustments and all other income included. It replaces the traditional Self Assessment fee for clients in MTD. Bookkeeping can be added if you would rather not do the recording.

Is making tax digital in Stirling really the same price as elsewhere?

Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Stirling pays and what a client in any other part of Scotland 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.

Do you have an office in Stirling?

No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Stirling 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 Stirling as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.

Get a fixed quote for Stirling today

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