Are you in? It’s your takings, not your profit
Add up everything customers paid you in the 2025/26 tax year – maintenance visits, one-off clearances, landscaping jobs including the materials you charged for, and any green waste removal fees – before taking off fuel, tip charges or anything else. If that total (plus any rent from property you let) is over £30,000, MTD applies from 6 April 2027. Over £50,000 and you have been in since April 2026.
Over £50,000
Over £30,000
Over £20,000
planned
Your work in accountant language
What actually happens in your working life, what your accountant and HMRC call it, and what to do about it.
| What happens | Accountant calls it | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| A customer pays for this month’s fortnightly cut | Sales / turnover | Record the payment when it arrives, cash or bank transfer. |
| You invoice a patio job including £2,400 of slabs and sand | Turnover (labour and materials together) | Record the full invoice as income – the materials are not taken off here. |
| You buy those slabs and sand at the builders’ merchant | Allowable expense – materials | Keep the merchant’s receipt or account statement. |
| You pay the tip or a permit to get rid of green waste | Allowable expense – waste disposal | Keep the weighbridge ticket or receipt. |
| You buy a new mower or hedge trimmer | Equipment – deductible in the year you buy it (cash basis) | Keep the receipt; it comes off your profit this year. |
| You fill the van with diesel | Vehicle expense (or covered by mileage rate) | Choose one method per vehicle: actual costs or 45p a mile, not both. |
| You move money to your personal account to pay the mortgage | Drawings – not an expense | Fine to do, but it doesn’t reduce your tax. |
| Every three months | Quarterly update | Your software sends HMRC your income and expense totals. |
| After 5 April | Final declaration | Confirm the year’s figures; tax is worked out and due by 31 January. |
What can a gardener claim?
✓ Usually allowable
- Materials charged to customers – plants, turf, compost, slabs, fencing, gravel
- Green waste disposal, tip charges and skip hire
- Waste carrier registration and its renewal
- Mowers, strimmers, hedge trimmers, chippers and hand tools, plus servicing and repairs
- Fuel and two-stroke oil for machinery
- Van running costs – fuel, insurance, MOT, repairs – or business mileage instead
- Boots, gloves, ear defenders, chainsaw trousers and other protective clothing
- Public liability insurance and tool insurance
- Business share of your phone, advertising and accounting software
- Training such as pesticide or chainsaw certificates for your existing work
✗ Not allowable
- Everyday clothes, even muddy ones
- Plants and tools for your own garden
- Private use of the van (only the business share counts)
- Speeding or parking fines
- Money you take out for yourself (drawings)
Rules that matter for gardeners and landscapers
Materials go in twice
When you charge a customer for materials, the full invoice is income and the cost of the materials is an expense. Your profit comes out right either way, but your turnover – which decides whether MTD applies – includes the materials.
Vans: mileage or actual costs
For each vehicle you choose either the flat mileage rate or the actual costs (fuel, insurance, repairs and, under the cash basis, a van’s purchase price). You can’t mix the two for the same vehicle. If the van is also used privately, only the business share counts.
Green waste paperwork
If you take customers’ green waste away, you usually need to be registered as a waste carrier with the environment agency for your part of the UK. Keep tip receipts – they are an allowable expense and evidence you disposed of it properly.
Quiet winters
Gardening income is seasonal, but your tax bill isn’t. Quarterly updates will show you a lumpy year – setting aside a fixed share of each payment in summer helps cover January and July payments.
Worked example
Dan runs a gardening and small landscaping business near Shrewsbury (illustrative example)
| Takings (turnover) | £42,600 |
| less Landscaping materials charged to customers | −£7,800 |
| less Van costs (fuel, insurance, repairs – business share) | −£4,100 |
| less Mower, strimmer and tools | −£1,650 |
| less Green waste disposal and tip charges | −£1,300 |
| less Machine fuel, servicing and protective kit | −£980 |
| less Insurance, phone and advertising | −£720 |
| Profit | £26,050 |
| Income tax (estimate) | £2,696 |
| Class 4 National Insurance (estimate) | £809 |
| Total tax for the year | £3,505 |
| Put aside each month | £292 |
Estimate for 2026/27 using England, Wales & NI rates, assuming no other income. Scotland has different income tax bands.
What a quarterly update looks like
A typical quarter for a gardener: match customer payments in your bank to your round and job list, add any cash, pull your merchant account statement for materials, add tip tickets and van receipts – then press submit in your software, or let your accountant do it. Summer quarters are busier, so a weekly check-in stops the receipts piling up in the van.
| Quarter | Period | Submit by |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 6 Apr – 5 Jul | 7 Aug |
| Q2 | 6 Jul – 5 Oct | 7 Nov |
| Q3 | 6 Oct – 5 Jan | 7 Feb |
| Q4 | 6 Jan – 5 Apr | 7 May |
| Final declaration | The whole tax year | 31 Jan following |
Quarterly updates are summaries – they don’t change when you pay. Tax is still due by 31 January (plus payments on account on 31 January and 31 July if they apply to you).
What will an accountant cost?
Typical monthly fees under MTD for Income Tax for: Sole trader, one business.
| Option | What you get | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| You do it yourself | MTD-compatible software. You keep the records and send the updates. | £0–£15up to £180 a year |
| Accountant files for you | You keep records in an app; they check them, send the 4 quarterly updates and the final declaration. | £30–£60about £360–£720 a year |
| Full service | They do the bookkeeping too – you share receipts and bank feeds, they handle the rest. | £60–£120about £720–£1,440 a year |
What pushes the price up: lots of transactions every month, or more than one income stream; records kept on paper rather than in an app; being VAT-registered; catching up on missed updates or late returns.
What a fixed-fee quote should include
- All 4 quarterly updates and the final declaration (your tax return)
- The MTD software licence – or whether you pay for it separately
- Whether they do the bookkeeping or only check what you’ve recorded
- A reminder before each deadline and an estimate of the tax to put aside
- Whether VAT (20%) is added on top – not every practice charges it
Accountancy fees for your business are an allowable expense, so they reduce your tax bill.
Indicative ranges from published UK price lists, checked October 2026. Not a quote – your fee depends on how many transactions you have, how tidy your records are and where you live.
Questions gardeners and landscapers ask
My customer bought the plants themselves. Do I include them?
No. If the customer paid the garden centre directly, it is not your income or your expense. Only include materials you buy and charge on.
Can I claim my van?
Yes, for the business use. Either claim the flat mileage rate or the actual costs including, under the cash basis, the purchase price – but not both for the same van.
I do gardening at weekends alongside a full-time job. Does MTD apply?
Your wages don’t count. Your gardening takings do – over £1,000 a year and you need to register for Self Assessment, and if they (plus any rental income) go above the MTD threshold, MTD applies.
Do I need to register for VAT?
Only if your VAT-taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in a rolling 12 months. That is separate from MTD for Income Tax.
Sources
- Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Send quarterly updates using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Find software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
This guide is general information about HMRC’s Making Tax Digital rules as of 26 October 2026, not tax advice. MTD Match is an independent introduction service and is not affiliated with HMRC. Check gov.uk or speak to an accountant about your own situation.