Accounting

Making Tax Digital · South West London

Making Tax Digital accountants in Surbiton

Making Tax Digital is the biggest change to how the self-employed in Surbiton 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 Surbiton

Sole traders and landlords in Surbiton 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 Surbiton, 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

The IGI way of working, in Surbiton

One fixed fee for making tax digital in Surbiton, agreed in writing before any work starts and never changed part-way through the job, however long it takes us.

We work to the HMRC and Companies House calendar, not an appointment diary. Clients in Surbiton get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to making tax digital.

No appointments, no travel across South West London, no parking. Everything for making tax digital in Surbiton happens online, with a real person on the other end during UK working hours.

A named person handles your making tax digital from Surbiton and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.

We explain making tax digital in the words Surbiton 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 Surbiton clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.

Local facts

About Surbiton

Surbiton is in South West London, within Kingston upon Thames, in the KT6 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
St. Mark's0.2 miNE
Seething Wells0.3 miW
Berrylands0.8 miE
Southborough0.9 miS
Ditton, Long0.9 miSW
Long Ditton1.0 miSW
Ditton, Thames1 miSW
Ditton Hill1 miSW

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

Closing a company

A solvent company that has finished its purpose can be dissolved by voluntary strike-off: form DS01 with a £13 Companies House fee, after three months without trading and with all debts paid, final accounts and tax return filed, and assets distributed. HMRC objects to any application where returns or tax are outstanding, so the sequence matters more than the form.

Switching accountants

Changing accountant is simpler than most people fear. You authorise the new firm, which writes to the old one for professional clearance and your records; the outgoing accountant must hand over your own documents and usually does within two weeks. The new firm registers as your agent with HMRC and picks up the next filing. There is no need to wait for a year end.

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.

Dormant companies

A dormant company is one with no significant accounting transactions in the year, where the only permitted entries are the payment for shares on incorporation, Companies House fees and penalties. It still files a confirmation statement and simplified dormant accounts every year. A bank charge or an accountant's fee paid from the company ends dormancy and requires full accounts.

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

Since April 2025 employer National Insurance has been 15% on earnings above a £5,000 secondary threshold, a substantial increase for small employers. The Employment Allowance rose to £10,500 at the same time to soften it for the smallest businesses. Directors deciding their own salary weigh this cost against the Corporation Tax deduction a salary provides.

Allowable expenses

The expenses sole traders most often miss are home working costs, claimed by actual proportion or HMRC's flat rate, the business share of phone and internet, mileage at 45p for the first 10,000 business miles, and training that maintains existing skills. The ones most often claimed wrongly are commuting, entertaining customers and clothes that could be worn outside work.

Questions

Making Tax Digital questions from Surbiton

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.

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 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.

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.

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

Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Surbiton 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.

Do you have an office in Surbiton?

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

Fixed fees, filed on time, for Surbiton

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