Choose agents for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
How main and supporting agents can help sole traders and landlords manage Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
If you’re a sole trader or property landlord, you can choose to have one or more tax agents help you to manage Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
If you’re an agent, you can ask to be either a main agent or supporting agent for your clients. Each type of agent can view different parts of a client’s records and do different tasks.
For example, a bookkeeper might complete quarterly updates. In this scenario, they are a supporting agent. An accountant might finalise the client’s overall tax position and submit their final tax return. In this scenario, they are a main agent.
Sole traders and property landlords
As clients, sole traders and property landlords can:
- only have one main agent at a time, but any number of supporting agents
- have a main agent without any supporting agents
- have supporting agents without having a main agent
- use more than one agent for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax only — for other tax services, such as Self Assessment, you can only use one agent
Different agents can be appointed for different taxes.
Main and supporting agents
Agents for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax can be a main agent for some clients and a supporting agent for others.
If several agents are involved in a single business, for example, UK or foreign property, one single set of business accounts must be produced. This applies to quarterly updates to HMRC and final tax returns, once adjustments have been made.
An example of a single business could be all of a client’s combined income from UK property. A client earning income as a sole trader from several different places would not be classed as a single business — you’d need to treat each source as a separate business.
Main agents
Main agents can fully manage a client’s Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. They can do everything a supporting agent can and almost everything their client can. The only things a main agent cannot do are:
- set up a Direct Debit for the client
- change how a client wants to be contacted by HMRC
Supporting agents
Supporting agents have limited access to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax services. They can only see a client’s business and property income details. They can do fewer tasks than main agents.
For example, supporting agents cannot:
- set up a Direct Debit for the client
- change how a client wants to be contacted by HMRC
- view all sources of a client’s income for Self Assessment
- finalise a client’s overall tax position
- submit a client’s tax return
- view a client’s tax calculation
If a client authorises several supporting agents to act on their behalf, we cannot restrict their access and permissions to one single business.
Check the table in the section ‘Compare how main and supporting agents can help’ to find out what supporting agents can and cannot do.
How to get authorised as an agent
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Create an agent services account if you do not already have one.
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Use your agent services account to ask a client to authorise you.
The client will get different consent statements, depending on whether you apply to be a main or supporting agent. This means they’ll know what details you can see and what tasks you can do for them.
If you are currently the main agent for your client, it’s your client’s responsibility to tell you if they choose a different main agent to act on their behalf. If they do choose a different main agent, you will lose access to your client’s account.
You will remain authorised as a main agent if your client chooses to also appoint other supporting agents to act on their behalf. Supporting agents will also remain authorised if additional supporting agents are required.
If the client does not agree to authorise you, we’ll continue to deal with any agent they’ve already authorised.
When we can automatically authorise an agent
If you have an agent services account, and:
- have already signed a client up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, we’ll treat you as their main agent
- have not yet signed up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you’ll be able to add existing authorisations for your Self Assessment clients — we’ll authorise you as a main agent for these clients
If you add existing client authorisations, you’ll still need to make sure each client is signed up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. They can sign themselves up, or you can do it for them.
Read about how to add authorisations and check the right authorisations are in place.
Once you’re authorised
Read Making Tax Digital for Income Tax as an agent: step by step for more information on what to do next.
This includes finding software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Check you are approved by your client to authorise the chosen software before sign up.
How to de-authorise an agent
Agents can do this in their agent services account by selecting ‘Cancel a client’s authorisation’ and following the instructions provided.
Sole traders and property landlords can do this through the ‘Manage Your Tax Agent’ or ‘Manage who can deal with HMRC’ option in their tax account.
Read how to change or remove agent authorisations
Compare how main and supporting agents can help
| Task | Main agent | Supporting agent |
|---|---|---|
| Sign a client up to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, or opt them out | Yes | Yes |
| Contact HMRC about a client’s current and previous tax returns | Yes | No |
| Contact HMRC about a client’s sole trader and property businesses (UK or foreign property) | Yes | Yes |
| View all sources of income for Self Assessment | Yes | No |
| Add or cease a client’s sole trader and property business income (UK and foreign property) | Yes | Yes |
| View and amend a client’s non-business income | Yes | No |
| Request a repayment on behalf of a client | Yes | No |
| Adjust a client’s payments on account | Yes | No |
| Set up a client’s Direct Debit for payment arrangements | No | No |
| View a client’s due dates for payments, quarterly updates and tax return | Yes | Yes |
| Find and choose compatible software and use it to manage a client’s tax return | Yes | No |
| Find and choose compatible software and use it to manage a client’s sole trader and property business records | Yes | Yes |
| Change a client’s quarterly update periods to calendar update periods (if applicable) using compatible software | Yes | Yes |
| Complete and submit a client’s quarterly sole trader and property income and expenses update | Yes | Yes |
| Use compatible software to either submit quarterly updates of sole trader and property business income and expenses, or send this annually and make accounting adjustments | Yes | Yes |
| Finalise a client’s overall tax position, submit their tax return (including uploading any supporting documents) and submit tax return amendments | Yes | No |
| Claim losses and relief, such as capital allowances | Yes | Yes — if the agent has submitted the return |
| Tell HMRC that a client no longer needs to file a tax return | Yes | No |
| View a client’s tax calculations and amounts owed and paid | Yes | No |
| View a client’s personal details, including their name and address | Yes | Yes — if the client uses their own name or private address for their business name or address |
| Set or change a client’s contact preference with HMRC | No | No |
| View a client’s National Insurance number and Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) | Yes | Yes |
| Receive copies of all statutory communications sent to a client | Yes | No |
| Receive copies of a client’s penalty notices for late submission of quarterly updates or tax returns, or late payment of Income Tax (regardless of who submitted them) | Yes | No |
| View and appeal against client penalties issued for late submissions of quarterly updates or tax returns, or late payment of Income Tax (regardless of who submitted them) | Yes | No |
| View all quarterly update totals for clients, using compatible software | Yes | Yes |
| View designatory details of any other agents assigned to a client’s record | No | No |