Accounting

Making Tax Digital · North London

Making Tax Digital accountants in West Finchley

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

Sole traders and landlords in West Finchley 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 West Finchley, 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 West Finchley

One fixed fee for making tax digital in West Finchley, 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 West Finchley get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to making tax digital.

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

A named person handles your making tax digital from West Finchley 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 West Finchley 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 West Finchley clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.

Local facts

About West Finchley

West Finchley is in North London, within Barnet, in the N3 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
Church End, Barnet0.5 miS
Millbrook Park0.6 miW
Mill Hill East0.7 miW
Woodside Park0.7 miNE
North Finchley0.9 miE
Finchley Church End0.9 miS
Woodhouse, Barnet1.0 miE
Finchley1.0 miSE

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

Every company must file a confirmation statement at least once a year, within fourteen days of its review date, with a £50 Companies House fee. Since November 2025 directors and people with significant control must also verify their identity with Companies House, and the confirmation statement is where existing officers confirm they have done so during the transition year.

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.

Late filing penalties

HMRC's penalties for a late Self Assessment return are automatic: £100 the day after 31 January, £10 a day from three months late up to £900, then the greater of £300 or 5% of the tax at six and twelve months. Interest and separate late-payment penalties apply to the tax itself. Companies House charges £150 to £1,500 for late accounts, doubling for a second consecutive year.

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

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.

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.

Questions

Making Tax Digital questions from West Finchley

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 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.

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.

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

Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in West Finchley 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 West Finchley?

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

Get a fixed quote for West Finchley 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