You are not locked in to the Making Tax Digital software you started with. HMRC says you can change your software at any time, although it is easier at the end of a tax year. Switching during the year is still perfectly doable, as long as you move the right records and keep the old ones.
Switching at the end of the tax year
This is the clean option. Send your fourth quarterly update and your tax return from the old software, then start the new tax year in the new one. You do not need to import previous years into the new product. You do need to keep the old records somewhere safe and accessible, which usually means exporting them before you cancel.
You can also switch just for the tax return. HMRC says software used only to submit the tax return gets your quarterly figures directly from HMRC, so it does not need linking to your records. Year-end adjustments often mean going back to the underlying records, though, so it is usually simpler to finish the year where you started it.
Switching part way through the year
Because every quarterly update covers the tax year so far, your new software needs all of this year's records, from 6 April, not just the ones since you switched. HMRC gives you two options:
- import your digital records for the current tax year into the new software; or
- recreate them in the new software, for example by connecting the same bank account and categorising again.
If you use bridging software with a spreadsheet, you link the new bridging software to your spreadsheet and HMRC requires you to remove the link from the old one. HMRC's rule is that you can only use one software product for each separate submission, so a landlord cannot send property updates from two products.
You can use different products for different jobs, though. A sole trader with rental property could use one product for the trade and another for the lettings, or one product for records and quarterly updates and another for the tax return, as long as they work together.
A checklist for switching
- Check the new software covers everything: each of your income sources (self-employment, UK property, foreign property), your update periods (standard or calendar), and any other income you need to add to your tax return.
- Note what you have already sent. Which quarterly updates for this year have gone to HMRC, and the totals in each. Your old software should show them, and your HMRC online account shows which updates are still due.
- Export from the old software before you cancel: transactions, categories and any attachments, ideally as CSV or Excel, plus a copy of each submitted update.
- Authorise the new software with HMRC. You do this from inside the new product, signing in with your HMRC details.
- Bring this year's records across by import or by recreating them, and check the category totals to date match what you have already sent.
- Send the next update from the new software by its deadline. Because it covers the year to date, any difference from earlier updates is corrected in it.
- Keep the old records for at least five years after the 31 January deadline for each tax year. For 2026/27 that means until at least 31 January 2033.
If you also change accountant
Changing, adding or removing a tax agent does not move your digital records automatically. Make sure you keep your own copy of previous years, that any new agent is authorised for Making Tax Digital, and that you remove the old agent's authorisation in your HMRC online account if they should no longer act for you.
Common reasons people switch
- A free offer tied to a bank account ends when you change bank.
- The software handles self-employment well but not property, or the other way round.
- A price change after a trial or introductory period.
- Your accountant prefers a different product.
None of these is a reason to wait for April if a deadline is coming. Because updates are cumulative, a mid-year switch mostly comes down to getting this year's records into the new software.
Switching to VoxaMTD
To bring this year's records into VoxaMTD you can upload a CSV or Excel file of transactions, connect your bank through open banking, or add entries by hand. VoxaMTD sends quarterly updates for self-employment and UK property income directly to HMRC's live Making Tax Digital service, and sending them is free. Check the fit before you move: VoxaMTD uses the standard update periods (6th to 5th) and does not yet send foreign property updates. It is not yet listed on HMRC's published software finder.
Start free, no card needed · Compare VoxaMTD with other MTD software
This guide is general information based on HMRC's published guidance as at 27 September 2026. It is not tax advice.