Making Tax Digital for painter-decorators: what's changing in April 2026

TL;DR: Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD ITSA) hits self-employed UK painter-decorators in three waves, based on qualifying income from self-employment and/or property: over £50,000 from 6 April 2026, over £30,000 from 6 April 2027, over £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Three things change for your business: digital records (the van-cab notebook plus shoebox-of-receipts approach is no longer compliant on its own), four quarterly summary submissions per tax year (plus the year-end declaration you already do), and a piece of HMRC-compatible filing software to handle the submissions. The work itself is small, about ten minutes a quarter once your records are in shape. The shift is the rhythm: from a once-a-year January scramble to a four-times-a-year discipline.

If you're a self-employed UK painter-decorator, the headline news is short. MTD ITSA becomes mandatory in three steps, based on qualifying income from self-employment and/or property:

• From 6 April 2026 — qualifying income over £50,000.
• From 6 April 2027 — qualifying income over £30,000.
• From 6 April 2028 — qualifying income over £20,000.

That will catch many established sole-trader painter-decorators, especially those running a busy book across domestic, commercial, and conservation work. If you also rent out a property, that rental income counts toward the same threshold.

The three real changes:

1. Digital records, not paper. Income and expenses captured in a structured digital form. A spreadsheet can work, but only if it pairs with MTD-compatible bridging software for the actual submissions. Cloud accounting software does both jobs natively. The van-cab notebook plus shoebox-of-receipts approach is no longer compliant on its own.
2. Four quarterly summary updates per tax year, plus your year-end final declaration. The quarterly updates are lightweight: total income, total expenses, by category. The reconciliation, the allowable-vs-not-allowable judgements, and the actual tax calculation all happen at the year-end declaration in January, the same as today.
3. HMRC-compatible filing software for the quarterly submissions. The old self-assessment portal won't accept MTD ITSA submissions. You need either a cloud accounting tool that handles the submission natively, or a spreadsheet paired with bridging software (typically £30–£50 per year).

Three changes. The rest is operational discipline.

Worth saying plainly: MTD doesn't change what tax you owe. It changes when HMRC sees what you owe. Same money, different rhythm.

Most painter-decorators don't need to overhaul how they keep records. If you already invoice properly, run business spend through a separate bank account, and log mileage between jobs, you're 80 per cent of the way there. The remaining 20 per cent is making sure that record is in a structured digital format your filing tool can read.

The painter-decorators who'll find this hardest are the ones currently running on memory and a glovebox of receipts. If your "system" is "I give the lot to my accountant in January," MTD effectively makes that approach non-compliant. Your accountant cannot submit a quarterly update if you've handed them nothing for the quarter.

Practical move for the next 30 days: get every business transaction running through a separate business bank account. Set a 15-minute weekly admin slot (Friday afternoon, van parked, kettle on) to log invoices, materials, vehicle costs, and mileage against the right categories. That single habit takes you most of the way.

A quarterly update is not a tax return. It's a summary submission. For a painter-decorator, the categories you'll typically report are:

Total income for the quarter: domestic decorating contracts (full house redecoration, single rooms, exteriors), commercial work (offices, retail), conservation or heritage work, spray-finishing jobs, wallpaper hanging, specialist finishes, and any retail (paint, materials).

Total expenses by category: materials (paint, primer, undercoat, fillers, sandpaper, masking tape, dust sheets, brushes, rollers, trays, fillers), spray equipment and consumables, ladders and scaffold towers, van running costs and fuel, vehicle insurance, professional liability insurance, PDA membership, training and CPD (lead-paint awareness for pre-1960 properties, working-at-height refresher), accountancy, bank charges, software, phone, workwear and PPE (overalls, respirators, eye protection), and use-of-home if you do paperwork from home.

You don't reconcile each line at the quarterly stage. You report category totals. The reconciliation, the allowable-vs-not-allowable judgements, and the tax calculation all happen at the final year-end declaration.

This is why the quarterly updates feel less burdensome than people fear, once your records are in shape. If your spreadsheet aggregates by category automatically, the quarterly submission is a copy-paste of the totals into your filing tool. Ten minutes per quarter, not a weekend.

VAT MTD has been mandatory since 2019. Most sole-trader painter-decorators run below the £90,000 VAT threshold and aren't VAT-registered. If you are VAT-registered (busy multi-team painter-decorators or commercial-heavy operations can clear it), you've already been doing quarterly digital submissions for VAT, and ITSA MTD layers on top as a separate filing.

CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) is also separate. Painter-decorators working on new-build sites or refurbishments via main contractor are typically in CIS — most main-contractor clients deduct CIS at source from your invoices. CIS monthly returns continue as they always did. ITSA MTD doesn't replace CIS — it sits alongside it. Your accountant or your software handles the offset; you just need to capture the gross invoice plus the CIS deduction on every job.

For non-VAT-registered painter-decorators (most sole-trader operators), ITSA MTD is the first time you'll have done digital quarterly reporting at all. Build the muscle now, before the deadline catches you.

There are three legitimate routes. Each has a real fit and a real cost. Pick once, commit, and stop second-guessing.

Cloud accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent. Subscription cost £12–£30 per month. Includes automated bank reconciliation, invoicing, and integrated MTD submission. Most include CIS modules at small extra cost. Best fit: VAT-registered painter-decorators, those with employees, or anyone running heavy CIS work via main contractors.

Spreadsheet plus bridging software. The spreadsheet is your record of income and expenses; bridging software (typically £30–£50 per year) reads the spreadsheet and submits to HMRC in the format MTD requires. Best fit: sole-trader painter-decorators with relatively simple domestic finances and a preference for one-time purchases over monthly subscriptions.

Hand it to your accountant. They handle the quarterly submissions on your behalf. Costs more than DIY, but if your accountant already does your year-end, the marginal cost is manageable. The catch: they can only file what you give them. Quarterly cadence still requires you to maintain the records weekly. If full cloud accounting is overkill for a one-van solo painter-decorator, we'd say so plainly.

There's no "best" answer. The right choice depends on your transaction volume, your tech comfort, and what you already pay for.

If you're still trading on a fragmented record-keeping system, treat 6 April 2026 as a hard deadline and work backwards.

1. Open a separate business bank account if you don't already have one. Move all business income and expenses through it. Every other MTD step gets easier when business spend stops mixing with personal.
2. Pick one tool (spreadsheet plus bridging, cloud accounting, or your accountant) and commit. Set it up properly with the right categories for decorating work.
3. Start a 15-minute weekly admin slot. Log the week's invoices, materials, vehicle costs, and mileage.
4. If you're VAT-registered or run CIS, layer ITSA MTD onto your existing quarterly rhythm. Same month-end discipline, second submission.
5. If you're not VAT-registered, build the rhythm now. The first April 2026 quarterly window will arrive faster than you expect.

If you do nothing else this month: the bank account split. Most disputes about income, expenses, and category totals can be traced to mixed personal-and-business spend. The worst route is no route.

For the broader weekly habit applied across UK trades, see keeping your business expenses HMRC-ready in 15 minutes a week. Same operational discipline, different setting.

LaunchKit makes a niche-specific MTD Compliance Kit for painter-decorators. It's an Excel workbook with the income categories, expense categories, and quarterly summary tabs already set up for decorating work, including separate columns for domestic contracts, commercial work, CIS-deducted main-contractor invoices, materials by type, and PDA membership. £16.99 on Etsy and on yourlaunchkit.co.uk. One-time purchase. Works in Excel or Google Sheets, and pairs with any HMRC-recognised bridging tool when it's time to submit.

The kit pairs with the painter-decorator business documents bundle (£19.99) if you also want contracts, quotation templates with colour-spec sign-off, and warranty terms with the right MTD-friendly categories built in.

This article is general guidance, not professional advice. For your specific tax position, consult a qualified accountant. For lead-paint or working-at-height matters, consult HSE or your trade body.