GoSimpleTax Review 2026: Ready for Making Tax Digital?

GoSimpleTax in 2026: the quick verdict

GoSimpleTax has been a popular choice for self-employed people doing their own Self Assessment for years. It's affordable, genuinely simple, and built specifically for the UK market. But with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD for ITSA) starting on 6 April 2026, the question has changed.

It's no longer just about whether it can file your tax return. It's about whether it can handle quarterly submissions to HMRC — permanently, every year. That's a different beast entirely.

Here's everything you need to know.

What is GoSimpleTax?

GoSimpleTax is a UK-based tax software built exclusively for individuals doing Self Assessment — sole traders, landlords, and people with complex income. It's not an accounting package and it's not trying to be one.

You connect your income sources, enter your figures, and it calculates your tax bill in real time as you type. There's no bookkeeping module, no invoicing, no payroll. Just tax. That's the whole point.

For years, that simplicity was its biggest selling point. Under MTD for ITSA, it's also its biggest challenge.

What does MTD for ITSA actually require?

If your gross income from self-employment or property is above £50,000, you must comply from 6 April 2026. If it's above £30,000, you're in from April 2027. Above £20,000, April 2028.

Under the new rules, you'll need to:

• Keep digital records of your income and expenses throughout the year
• Submit a quarterly update to HMRC — four times a year, every year
• Submit an end-of-period statement after each tax year
• Submit a final declaration (replacing your Self Assessment return)

The quarterly updates aren't full tax returns — they're summaries of your income and expenses for the period. But they must come from compliant software that connects directly to HMRC's MTD systems.

Is GoSimpleTax MTD-compliant?

GoSimpleTax has confirmed it is developing MTD for ITSA functionality and aims to be compliant ahead of the April 2026 launch. It already holds HMRC recognition for Self Assessment filing, which gives it a solid foundation.

However, the key question is how it handles the digital record-keeping requirement. Under MTD, your quarterly figures must flow from digital records — you can't just type in estimated totals. HMRC expects a clear audit trail from transaction to submission.

GoSimpleTax's current model relies on manual entry rather than bank feeds or imported transaction data. For MTD compliance, this approach will need to either evolve significantly or integrate with bridging-style record-keeping. Watch for updates on this before April 2026 if GoSimpleTax is your preferred tool.

GoSimpleTax pricing

This is where GoSimpleTax genuinely shines. It's one of the most affordable options on the market:

• Free plan — covers basic Self Assessment with limited income sources
• Paid plan — typically around £50–£85 per year depending on your income sources and complexity
• No monthly subscription trap — pay once per tax year

Compared to Xero (from £16/month) or QuickBooks (from £14/month), GoSimpleTax is significantly cheaper. But that price difference reflects a difference in scope — GoSimpleTax is a tax tool, the others are full accounting platforms.

For MTD compliance, that distinction matters. If you need ongoing bookkeeping, bank feeds, and quarterly reporting built into one workflow, a full accounting platform may be worth the extra cost. You can compare MTD software to see how the options stack up side by side.

Who GoSimpleTax works best for

GoSimpleTax is particularly well-suited to:

• Landlords with simple property income — a few rentals, straightforward expenses, no VAT complications
• Sole traders with one income stream — freelancers, consultants, tradespeople who don't need invoicing or project tracking
• People who already do their own tax return and find HMRC's portal clunky or confusing
• Those who want to pay as little as possible and don't need a full accounting package

It's less suited to sole traders with multiple clients needing invoicing, anyone who wants automated bank feeds as part of their workflow, or businesses with employees or VAT obligations.

Strengths worth knowing about

Real-time tax calculation

As you enter income and expenses, GoSimpleTax shows your running tax bill. For anyone anxious about unexpected tax bills, this is genuinely useful — you always know roughly where you stand.

Built specifically for UK tax

Unlike some platforms adapted from US or international software, GoSimpleTax was built from the ground up for UK Self Assessment. The language, the structure, and the logic all match how HMRC actually works.

No accountant required

The interface is designed for non-accountants. If you've always done your own tax return and want to keep doing so, GoSimpleTax makes that easier than most alternatives.

Weaknesses to consider for MTD

No bank feed integration (currently)

Most MTD-ready platforms automatically import transactions from your bank account, categorise them, and build your quarterly summary from that data. GoSimpleTax's manual-entry model may require meaningful changes to meet this standard.

Limited bookkeeping depth

Under MTD, quarterly submissions need to reflect actual digital records — not end-of-year totals. A pure tax tool will need to expand into record-keeping territory to stay compliant. Watch whether GoSimpleTax's MTD product genuinely does this, or whether it relies on you keeping records elsewhere and importing them.

No invoicing or expense tracking

If you want one piece of software to run your finances day-to-day, GoSimpleTax isn't it. You'd need a separate tool for invoicing and expenses, then pull the figures across.

GoSimpleTax vs the alternatives

If you're comparing GoSimpleTax to the likes of QuickBooks, FreshBooks, FreeAgent, or Xero, you're comparing different categories of software. The full-suite platforms do more — bookkeeping, invoicing, bank feeds, payroll — and cost more monthly as a result.

GoSimpleTax is the right choice if tax filing is genuinely all you need and you're comfortable maintaining your own records separately. It's the wrong choice if you want an all-in-one MTD workflow that handles everything from expense capture to quarterly submission in one place.

Not sure which category you fall into? Compare MTD software to see a full breakdown of what each platform includes.

The bottom line

GoSimpleTax has earned its reputation as a clean, affordable, genuinely usable tax tool. For straightforward Self Assessment, it's hard to fault.

For MTD for ITSA, the picture is still developing. The platform has signalled its intent to comply, but the shift from annual tax filing to quarterly digital record-keeping is a significant one. If you're already a GoSimpleTax user, keep a close eye on their MTD feature announcements as April 2026 approaches.

If you're starting fresh and choosing software specifically for MTD, it's worth comparing the full field — including platforms that have been built with quarterly digital workflows at their core from day one.

Whatever you choose, don't leave it until March 2026. The earlier you embed a compliant workflow, the less stressful the transition will be.