In addition to the annual tax return, those mandated to comply with the MTD IT requirements will need to submit cumulative quarterly updates of their income and expenses to HMRC and maintain digital records of their transactions using HMRC-approved software. Multi-agent access will allow taxpayers to appoint a main agent to deal with their tax return at the year end and one or more supporting agents to deal with the record keeping and quarterly updates.

The supporting agent, for example a bookkeeper or letting agent, will be more restricted in the tasks they can carry out on your behalf. The main agent will be able to do almost everything that you, the taxpayer, can do. Where a taxpayer has income from property and separate trading income they may choose to appoint different supporting agents for each. It will be possible to appoint multiple supporting agents but only one main agent to oversee your tax affairs and deal with your annual tax return.

When appointing a supporting agent, be careful not to designate them as the main agent as doing so will automatically remove the existing agent's access. This may lead to delays in your year end tax return and potential penalties for late submission.

We have been preparing for some time to help clients navigate the MTD IT requirements. We can lead you through the process of deciding where best to use (or not use) supporting agents to optimise your MTD processes.