ANNA bundles a bank account with tax tools. TapTax is pure MTD software. Which one actually serves a UK sole trader better in 2026?
ANNA Money starts with a business current account and works backwards towards tax compliance. TapTax starts with MTD for Income Tax and works backwards towards simplicity. That single architectural difference explains almost everything about which one is right for you.
If you already bank with ANNA and love it, the tax add-on is a natural extension. But if you just want MTD-compliant quarterly filing without switching your bank account, paying for ANNA's bundled model means funding infrastructure you do not need. Here is the honest breakdown.
ANNA built its product from the payments layer upward. You open an ANNA business account, get a Mastercard debit card, and then layer invoicing, bookkeeping and tax tools on top. The integration is genuinely clever: every transaction on your ANNA card is captured automatically, categorised and fed into your accounts. For a sole trader who wants one app to handle money in, money out, invoices and taxes, that is a coherent proposition.
The catch is the dependency. To get full value from ANNA's tax tooling, you are expected to use the ANNA account as your primary business bank. If you already bank with Starling, Monzo Business, Lloyds or anywhere else, you can still connect ANNA's tax features, but the experience is noticeably less seamless. The card-spend automation that makes ANNA compelling only fires on ANNA card transactions.
TapTax has no banking ambitions at all. It connects to whichever bank you already use via open banking, pulls in your transactions, applies AI categorisation, lets you scan receipts, and sends quarterly MTD updates to HMRC. That is the entire product. There is no invoicing, no payroll, no current account. For some sole traders that sounds limiting. For most, it is exactly the right scope.
| Feature | TapTax | ANNA Money |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Standalone MTD tax app | Business bank account + tax add-on |
| Price entry point | Free tier available | Tax tier from ~£5/mo (with ANNA account) |
| Annual cost (mid tier) | £59.88/yr (Starter) | Roughly £60–£288/yr depending on tier |
| MTD ITSA filing | Yes, one-tap quarterly filing | Yes, as part of tax tier |
| Works with your existing bank | Yes, open banking | Partially; best with ANNA account |
| AI expense categorisation | Yes | Yes, strongest on ANNA card spend |
| Receipt scanning | Yes | Yes |
| Invoicing | No (by design) | Yes |
| Mobile-first experience | Yes | Yes |
| VAT filing | Yes (Pro) | Yes |
| Requires switching bank | No | Ideally yes for full benefit |
TapTax has three tiers. The Free tier covers the basics. Starter at £4.99 a month (£59.88 a year) adds bank feeds and AI categorisation. Pro at £9.99 a month adds VAT filing and richer reporting. You can work out your likely tax bill before committing to anything using the sole trader tax calculator.
ANNA's pricing is more layered because it bundles banking fees with tax fees. The account itself has tiered monthly costs, and the tax tooling sits on top of that. Depending on how many invoices you send, how much card spend you process and which tax features you need, the combined monthly outlay lands somewhere between £5 and £24 for the tax component alone, before any banking transaction fees. For a sole trader who genuinely wants a business bank account anyway, that bundle can represent good value. For one who just wants MTD compliance and has no interest in switching banks, it is paying for a bank account to unlock tax software.
If you are weighing the cheapest realistic route to MTD compliance, the comparison of the cheapest and simplest MTD software options covers the full landscape including both tools.
Both products support MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment, which becomes mandatory for sole traders earning above £50,000 from April 2026. Both can submit quarterly updates to HMRC digitally. Neither is a workaround or a bridging tool; both are genuine MTD-compatible solutions.
The difference is workflow. In TapTax, the path from bank transaction to quarterly filing is the entire product. Every design decision points there. In ANNA, the MTD filing sits alongside business payments, invoice chasing, payroll tools and card controls. That is fine if you use all of it. If you only care about the tax piece, the MTD filing in ANNA can feel buried inside a banking app rather than centred in a tax tool.
For sole traders who are VAT-registered, both products handle VAT returns. TapTax's Pro tier covers MTD VAT filing, and you can estimate your VAT liability in advance using the VAT calculator before deciding which tier you need.
ANNA's invoicing is polished, quick and integrated. If you are a freelancer or contractor who sends five to twenty invoices a month, chases late payers and wants payments to land directly in your business account, the ANNA workflow for that is excellent. The invoice goes out, the payment comes in, the transaction is categorised automatically. That closed loop is genuinely valuable and TapTax simply does not offer it.
ANNA also wins if you want a dedicated business bank account with a physical debit card and are starting fresh. For a new sole trader who has not yet picked a business bank, ANNA gives you account, card, invoicing and MTD compliance in one place. The onboarding is fast and the interface is mobile-first in a way that feels designed for the person running a business from a smartphone rather than a desktop.
TapTax wins on focus. If you already have a bank account you like and you just need MTD-compliant quarterly filing with minimal friction, TapTax does that job cleanly without asking you to change your banking arrangements. The AI categorisation works across all connected bank accounts equally well, not just transactions on a proprietary card.
TapTax also wins on transparency of cost. There is no banking tier underneath the tax tier. The £4.99 or £9.99 a month is the whole bill. You know exactly what you are paying for MTD compliance without unpacking a bundled banking and tax invoice.
ANNA is worth a serious look. The invoicing integration, the business current account and the MTD tax filing in one app is a coherent bundle for someone whose cash flow depends on invoice management. You get more tools than TapTax offers and the banking integration makes the bookkeeping largely automatic.
TapTax is the cleaner call. You do not need a new business account, you do not invoice in the way a freelancer does (jobs are typically cash, card or bank transfer handled outside the accounting app) and you need MTD compliance without friction. TapTax connects to your existing bank, categorises your expenses automatically and files quarterly without you needing to touch a desktop.
ANNA's proposition of bank plus tax is genuinely convenient for a new business. But check whether you will actually use the invoicing features before committing to the bundled cost. If you realistically just need MTD compliance, TapTax's free tier is a lower-risk place to start.
Both tools support MTD VAT filing. TapTax's Pro tier at £9.99 a month is a known, fixed cost. ANNA's equivalent depends on which tier includes VAT in your bundle. Work out which total annual cost is lower for your specific usage before deciding.
ANNA is a bank that does tax. TapTax is a tax app that connects to your bank. Choose based on which half of that sentence you actually need.
For the sole trader who wants a business bank account, integrated invoicing and MTD filing in one product, ANNA is a genuinely well-designed choice. For the sole trader who already has a bank account they like and wants the most focused, affordable route to MTD compliance, TapTax removes every layer of complexity that is not directly about filing tax correctly.
Neither tool is a scam or a compromise. They are built for different versions of the same person. The version who wants a full business financial hub should look at ANNA. The version who wants MTD compliance done quietly and cheaply, on the phone they already carry, should try TapTax.
TapTax connects to your bank, categorises expenses automatically, and submits quarterly updates to HMRC. Free plan, no card required.
