Choose agents for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Source: gov.uk (2025-08-28)

How main and supporting agents can help sole traders and landlords manage Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

If you’re a sole trader or property landlord, you can choose to have one or more tax agents help you to manage Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

If you’re an agent, you can ask to be either a main agent or supporting agent for your clients. Each type of agent can view different parts of a client’s records and do different tasks.

For example, a bookkeeper might complete quarterly updates. In this scenario, they are a supporting agent. An accountant might finalise the client’s overall tax position and submit their final tax return. In this scenario, they are a main agent.

Sole traders and property landlords

As clients, sole traders and property landlords can:
- only have one main agent at a time, but any number of supporting agents
- have a main agent without any supporting agents
- have supporting agents without having a main agent
- use more than one agent for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax only — for other tax services, such as Self Assessment, you can only use one agent
Different agents can be appointed for different taxes.

Main and supporting agents

Agents for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax can be a main agent for some clients and a supporting agent for others.

If multiple agents are involved in the same business, you must make sure one combined update to HMRC is:
- sent for each update period
- submitted for the tax return after any adjustments
All income from UK property counts as one business. All income from foreign property counts as another business. A sole trader with different trades needs to treat each trade as a separate business.

Main agents

Main agents can fully manage a client’s Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. They can do everything a supporting agent can and almost everything their client can. The only things a main agent cannot do are:
- set up a Direct Debit for the client
- change how a client wants to be contacted by HMRC
Supporting agents

Supporting agents have limited access to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax services. They can only see a client’s business and property income details. They can do fewer tasks than main agents.

For example, supporting agents cannot:
- set up a Direct Debit for the client
- change how a client wants to be contacted by HMRC
- view all sources of a client’s income for Self Assessment
- finalise a client’s overall tax position
- submit a client’s tax return
- view a client’s tax calculation
If a client authorises several supporting agents to act on their behalf, we cannot restrict their access and permissions to one single business.

Check the table in the section ‘Compare how main and supporting agents can help’ to find out what supporting agents can and cannot do.

How to get authorised as an agent

Create an agent services account (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-an-hmrc-agent-services-account) if you do not already have one.

Use your agent services account to ask a client to authorise you (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sign-in-to-your-agent-services-account).

The client will get different consent statements, depending on whether you apply to be a main or supporting agent. This means they’ll know what details you can see and what tasks you can do for them.

If you are currently the main agent for your client, it’s your client’s responsibility to tell you if they choose a different main agent to act on their behalf. If they do choose a different main agent, you will lose access to your client’s account.

You will remain authorised as a main agent if your client chooses to also appoint other supporting agents to act on their behalf. Supporting agents will also remain authorised if additional supporting agents are required.

If the client does not agree to authorise you, we’ll continue to deal with any agent they’ve already authorised.

When we can automatically authorise an agent

If you have an agent services account, and:
- have already signed a client up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, we’ll treat you as their main agent
- have not yet signed up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you’ll be able to add existing authorisations for your Self Assessment clients — we’ll authorise you as a main agent for these clients
If you add existing client authorisations, you’ll still need to make sure each client is signed up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. They can sign themselves up (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sign-up-your-business-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax), or you can do it for them (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sign-up-your-client-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax).

Read about how to add authorisations (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/add-your-client-authorisations-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) and check the right authorisations are in place.

Once you’re authorised

Read Making Tax Digital for Income Tax as an agent: step by step (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-as-an-agent-step-by-step) for more information on what to do next.

This includes finding software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Check you are approved by your client to authorise the chosen software before sign up.

How to de-authorise an agent

Agents can do this in their agent services account by selecting ‘Cancel a client’s authorisation’ and following the instructions provided.

Sole traders and property landlords can do this through the ‘Manage Your Tax Agent’ or ‘Manage who can deal with HMRC’ option in their tax account.

Read how to change or remove agent authorisations (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/change-or-remove-your-tax-agents-authorisation).

Compare how main and supporting agents can help