MTD for Income Tax starts Monday -- are you prepared?

MTD for Income Tax goes live Monday (6 April). If you're a UK sole trader earning £50k+, you're affected.

The short version: you'll need MTD-compatible accounting software and quarterly digital submissions to HMRC from this week onwards. Annual self-assessment still exists but you also do quarterly updates now.

Most people are nowhere near ready. Common gaps:

• Still on spreadsheets (not MTD-compliant)
• Haven't migrated existing records to digital
• Don't have bank feeds connected
• Don't know what the quarterly deadlines are (5 Aug, 5 Nov, 5 Feb, 5 Apr)

FreeAgent is free if you have a NatWest, Starling, or Mettle business account, that's the quickest free path if you're scrambling.

I put together a comparison of 8 MTD platforms and a 30-day setup checklist at landolio.com if useful.