New research from Tide highlights a stressful summer switch to MTD for sole traders and landlords, with 22% still unaware of the August 7th deadline
216,000 of qualifying founders aren’t signed up and 85% don’t know how many times to file under the new rules
The working hours required for MTD admin is set to cost £1.5 billion in lost UK business revenue in the first year alone
To bring some sunshine to the new summer tax season, Tide is supplying business owners across the country with free ice cream and a no-cost solution to their MTD woes, with Tide’s free Making Tax Digital tool
London, UK - 13 July 2026: Sole traders and landlords across the UK could be in for a costly summer of stress, as new research from leading business management platform Tide reveals that more than 200,000 qualifying business owners aren’t ready for the MTD switch, despite the first filing deadline being less than 30 days away.
Tide first highlighted this looming issue in February 2026, when they revealed sole traders faced a £2.18 billion compliance bill, equivalent to £753 per business.
The new research surveyed 500 sole traders and landlords with annual revenues above the £50,000 qualifying mark for year one of MTD. It finds that many aren't ready for the change or are unsure of what Making Tax Digital means for them, even though the first filing deadline is August 7th.
With the deadline just days away, 22% of owners still don't know it's coming, and worryingly, 1 in 4 (25%) haven't yet signed up with HMRC for Making Tax Digital - a requirement for any qualifying business owner or landlord. Out of the estimated 864,000 that qualify for MTD in 2026, that leaves a huge 216,000 yet to sign up and submit their first update.
85% don’t know how often they will need to file once MTD starts
The first quarterly filing deadline looks set to bring a summer of tax stress. But the research shows confusion will continue well beyond August 2026.
Making Tax Digital will require business owners to file tax information to HMRC five times a year: four quarterly updates and one final annual submission. However, analysis through Tide’s survey finds that 85% of those joining MTD this year don’t know this, with 1 in 3 (31%) instead believing they will now need to file eight times or more. Awareness has barely moved in the run-up to the deadline, as Tide's February research found 83% of sole traders didn't realise they'd need to file five times a year.
Lost time and revenue: Owners predict they will spend six days over the next year dealing with MTD
The launch of Making Tax Digital lands in the middle of summer, during busy trading periods and at a time when many business owners had hoped for time off. Nearly 1 in 2 (44%) say they will be forced to focus time during normal working hours on MTD-related admin, while 1 in 3 (32%) feel this will have to be completed during time off.
In total, sole traders and landlords foresee this new tax admin requiring six full days of their attention over the next 12 months, a time requirement that totals £1.5 billion* in lost revenue across qualifying businesses in the first year of Making Tax Digital.
Free filing… and ice cream
To help anyone still struggling to understand Making Tax Digital, Tide is taking to the streets of the UK to provide first-hand insights – and a little moment of summer joy for business owners amongst the July-August filing stress.
From Monday 20th July, Tide experts will be "Making Tax Delicious", giving out free ice cream and insights on switching to Making Tax Digital. Tide current account holders can manage and automate digital records and submit MTD returns using Tide’s HMRC-recognised tool, all free in the Tide app.
Free ice cream flavours include ‘Self Assess-mint’, ‘VATnilla’ and ‘PAYE-stachio’, in addition to a ‘Declare your Hundreds and Thousands’ topping.
As MTD sign-up rates for qualifying business owners in the South East (46% still haven’t signed up for MTD), the North West (29%) and London (26%) are some of the lowest in the United Kingdom, free scoops and Tide experts will be available at the Tide ice cream van in the following locations:
Manchester, New Cathedral Street – Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st July
London, Victoria – Thursday 23rd
London, Broadgate – Friday 24th July
Brighton, New Road – Saturday 25th July
George Schmidt, CEO UK/Europe at Tide, comments: “No one wants to be thinking about tax over summer, but we can’t escape the fact that Making Tax Digital is here and the first deadline is just days away.
“The first wave of business owners need to ensure they are signed up with HMRC and file on time, to avoid penalties that accumulate with each missed deadline. It is a worry that so many still aren’t ready for the switch, but we hope that over the coming days we can raise awareness, spread some joy and importantly, help people to make their first submission, so they can get on with enjoying their summer.”
For further information on how Tide customers can take care of Making Tax Digital, visit: https://www.tide.co/making-tax-digital/
ENDS
Notes to editors:
All data based on a survey of 500 UK sole traders and/or landlords (18+) that make a revenue of £50,000 or more per year and therefore qualify for Making Tax Digital in 2026. Responses gathered on 19/06/2026.
*£1.5 billion lost revenue finding based on the survey respondents’ average daily revenue of £296.31. This equals £1,778 of lost revenue to MTD each year, based on the predicted six days of time required to complete filings. When multiplied by the 864,000 qualifying businesses, this reaches the £1.5 billion figure.
About Tide:
Launched in 2017, Tide is the leading business management platform in the UK. Tide helps small businesses save time and money by not only offering business accounts and related admin services, but also a comprehensive set of highly usable and connected administrative solutions from invoicing to accounting and adjacent commercial services such as web-site building.
Tide has 900,000 SME members in the UK (15% market share) and more than 1.1m SMEs in India. Tide launched in Germany in May 2024 and France in September 2025. Tide has also been recognised with the Great Place to Work certification three years in a row and has recently been named among India’s Top 50 Best Workplaces in Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance. Tide has been funded by Anthemis, the Apax Digital Funds, Augmentum Fintech, Creandum, Salica Investments, Latitude, LocalGlobe, SBI Group, Speedinvest and TPG, amongst others.
It employs more than 3,100 Tideans worldwide. Tide’s long-term ambition is to be the leading business management platform globally.
