Making Tax Digital Is a Client Acquisition Window: What Accountants Can Publish Before April

This post is about the United Kingdom. From 6 April 2027, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax reaches sole traders and landlords whose qualifying income was over £30,000, and from April 2028 the threshold falls to £20,000. Many of those people have never paid an accountant, they will start searching for plain answers in the months before the change, and a small practice that publishes clear, honest guidance now can be the one they find. The practices that treat this only as a reminder to existing clients are likely to miss most of it.

Who gets pulled in and when

GOV.UK sets the thresholds by qualifying income in an earlier tax year rather than the current one. Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 were due to start on 6 April 2026. Those with qualifying income over £30,000 for the 2025 to 2026 tax year start on 6 April 2027, and those over £20,000 for 2026 to 2027 start on 6 April 2028. Qualifying income means gross self-employment and property income, before expenses, and other income such as employment pay does not count towards the test.

For the April 2027 group, the AAT's guide for sole traders gives 7 August 2027 as the date the first quarterly update falls due. The annual Self Assessment deadline of 31 January still matters, because the 2025 to 2026 return that decides who is in scope is filed by then. That makes January a natural moment for people to look at their income and wonder which side of the line they sit on.

Rules change and individual cases differ, so anything you publish should point readers to GOV.UK and suggest they check their own position. Our leaving the UK checklist is an example of a plain guide built on GOV.UK sources.

What first-time filers worry about

Someone who has filed one return a year, perhaps with a spreadsheet and a shoebox of receipts, now hears that they must keep digital records and send updates through compatible software. The worries are usually practical and a little embarrassed. They wonder whether they can still do it themselves, what software they need, what happens if an update is late, and whether an accountant will cost more than the problem is worth.

Landlords add their own questions. They want to know how rental income from a joint property is treated, whether a small buy to let counts, and how to keep records when an agent collects the rent. None of these questions needs a long essay. Each needs a short, direct answer written for someone who is not a tax professional.

Why reminding existing clients misses the larger opportunity

Your current clients already know you. A reminder email to them is good service, and it will probably keep them, but it does not bring in a single new name. The whito.co.uk guide for accountancy marketing makes this point forcefully, arguing that firms spend their effort on people they already have while the unrepresented landlords and newly in-scope sole traders go unaddressed. It is a vendor view and the claim is not measured, but the logic holds up: the people with the most to learn are the ones who have no accountant to ask.

Calm usually works better than alarm. A reader who is already nervous about a new HMRC requirement does not need to be frightened further. They need to see that someone has laid out the situation in order and has been straight about cost.

What a landlord or sole trader resource should answer

A useful resource covers four things in the order a worried reader would ask them.

Question	What a good answer includes
What records do I keep?	Income, expenses and the date and category of each, kept digitally
What software can I use?	A pointer to the GOV.UK list of compatible software, with your own view on what suits a very small business
When are the dates?	The April start date for their income band, then the quarterly update dates and the January deadline
What will it cost?	A plain description of what you charge, or the factors that decide it

On fees, the most helpful thing a practice can do is name a figure or a range. Readers who have to ask for a price often do not ask. If you publish an example such as "from £[your monthly fee] for a sole trader with one income source", treat it as a placeholder to replace with your own number, and say what is and is not included. A price guide offered as a lead magnet is one way to do it.

Getting it live and reaching the right people

Format matters less than speed and clarity. A short guide with a checklist, a dates table and a fee explanation will do more than a long article nobody finishes. Because it asks readers to hand over a name and email address to receive it, it also gives you a list of people who have said they want help, rather than a page view you cannot follow up. Our post on lead magnet ideas for accountants covers other formats that suit a practice.

With Gatedleads you can build a branded page of this kind and get it live in under 10 minutes, then share it wherever your audience already looks: local landlord groups, LinkedIn, your own site, and a short note to existing clients asking them to pass it on. The aim is to reach people before the January rush, when searching for an accountant becomes urgent and practices fill up. Search is changing too, as our post on how service businesses still get the enquiry when Google answers the question explains.

Following up after 31 January

The weeks after the Self Assessment deadline are when people realise what the next year will look like. Anyone who downloaded your guide in the autumn is worth a short, personal message then. Keep it to one useful point, such as the date of their first quarterly update, and one clear way to talk to you. An accountant who answers a plain question in February is often the one asked to take the work on in March.

Keep a note of where each enquiry came from so you can see which channel is worth repeating. AccountingWeb's piece on January clients also offers a sensible caution: be selective, confirm you can get the information in time, and take payment terms seriously from the first conversation.

Frequently asked questions

Who must use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from April 2027?

According to GOV.UK, sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £30,000 for the 2025 to 2026 tax year must start on 6 April 2027. Check your own position on GOV.UK.

When is the first quarterly update for the 2027 to 2028 year?

The AAT's guide gives 7 August 2027 for the first quarterly update. Confirm the dates on GOV.UK.

Do landlords and sole traders still file a return after quarterly updates?

Yes. The end of year return is still filed, and the AAT guide gives 31 January 2028 for the 2026 to 2027 return.

Should accountants publish their fees?

Readers often want to know the cost before they make contact. Publishing a clear fee or a range, with what is included, helps them decide to get in touch.

Is this tax advice?

No. This post is general information for UK practices. Rules change, so check GOV.UK and your own situation.