TapTax vs Taxfix
for self-employed tax

Taxfix (the rebranded TaxScouts) and TapTax both want to make self-employed tax painless, but they come at it from different directions. Taxfix's flagship is a done-for-you service: a real, accredited UK accountant prepares your Self Assessment and files it directly with HMRC once you approve it. TapTax is software: low-cost, mobile-first, you run it yourself all year, with open-banking auto-import, AI categorisation and one-tap Making Tax Digital filing. Taxfix has more recently added its own MTD software from £4.99 a month, which is where the two genuinely overlap, but its identity and reputation are built on the human-accountant model.

Here is the honest version. If you want a qualified human to own your return, Taxfix is a well-established, credible choice with around 150 accredited accountants and an accuracy guarantee. If you want automated, continuous bookkeeping and a quarterly-native MTD workflow at the lowest possible cost, with a genuinely free tier to start, TapTax is the sharper everyday tool. We will not pretend TapTax is HMRC-recognised yet, because its production recognition is still pending. Read on for where each genuinely wins.

The single biggest difference: a human files it versus you file it

Taxfix's core job, inherited from TaxScouts, is to hand your return to a person. You complete a questionnaire and upload documents, Taxfix matches you with a hand-vetted, UK-accredited accountant (ACCA, CIMA or CTA, usually with five or more years' experience), and that accountant prepares the return, checks for deductions, and files it directly with HMRC once you approve, all under an accuracy guarantee. Because Taxfix is a registered HMRC agent, it can even connect to your existing HMRC online account to pull your information. It is, in effect, an accountant-assisted digital filing service.

TapTax starts a layer earlier, with your day-to-day money. It connects to your existing bank via open banking, auto-imports transactions, applies AI categorisation, lets you snap receipts and tracks mileage, then rolls all of that into one-tap quarterly MTD updates from your phone. The philosophy is "Tap. File. Done." Less a once-a-year hand-off to an accountant, more a continuously-maintained record that is always submission-ready.

Pricing in detail: what you actually pay

Taxfix sells two distinct things, so it helps to separate them. The first is its headline accountant-filed Self Assessment, a one-off per return. The second is its newer MTD software subscription. TapTax is a single freemium software subscription.

On raw price for a single annual return handled by a person, Taxfix's £99 to £349 is competitive against a traditional accountant. On ongoing software, the genuine head-to-head is TapTax's free and £4.99 tiers against Taxfix's £4.99 MTD self-service tier, and the key difference is that TapTax has a permanently free option whereas Taxfix's cheapest plan becomes £4.99 a month after a three-month free period.

Before you choose either, the TapTax sole trader tax calculator gives you a free, no-signup estimate, and if your numbers look off it is often a wrong code, so check your tax code too.

Where Taxfix genuinely wins

It would be dishonest to gloss over Taxfix's real advantages, so let us state them plainly.

A qualified human owns the return. For the Self Assessment service, an accredited UK accountant prepares and files for you, with an accuracy guarantee and HMRC correspondence handled on your behalf. For anyone who wants professional sign-off rather than self-filing, that is a real, current benefit TapTax does not offer.

An established brand and scale. TaxScouts launched in the UK in 2018 and is now backed by Taxfix Group, a German market leader operating across several European countries. That maturity, a network of around 150 accountants and an HMRC agent registration, is reassuring if you value a known quantity.

Optional human help on MTD too. Taxfix's higher MTD tiers (£24.99 and £39.99 a month) layer accountant review of every quarterly submission and final declaration, or full accountant management, on top of the software. If you want MTD compliance but would rather a professional checks each filing, that bundled option is something TapTax does not currently match.

Where TapTax genuinely wins

A genuinely free entry point. TapTax's free tier lets you connect your bank and test the full flow without paying anything, and you can stay on it. Taxfix has no permanently free plan: its Self Assessment is paid per return and its cheapest MTD tier is £4.99 a month after the initial free months. For cost-sensitive sole traders, free that stays free is a real difference.

Mobile-first, automation-led, all year. Open-banking import plus AI categorisation means your records build themselves as you trade, rather than being assembled into a document pack for an accountant at year-end. Receipt scanning and mileage tracking close the gaps that usually leak allowable expenses. The whole experience is designed for a phone and for sole traders specifically, rather than around a service hand-off.

Built for the quarterly MTD era, simply. From April 2026 the job changes from one annual return to four quarterly updates plus a final declaration. TapTax was designed around that cadence with one-tap filing. Taxfix's MTD software also meets the quarterly requirement, but TapTax's pitch is the lowest-friction, lowest-cost version of it. The plain-English guide to MTD for sole traders walks through the timeline and what each submission must contain, and the quarterly planner helps you stay ahead of the deadlines.

Allowable expenses and tax angles both tools should capture

Whichever you pick, the same UK rules decide your bill for 2025/26. The personal allowance is £12,570, basic rate 20% to £50,270, higher 40% to £125,140 and additional 45% above, with the allowance tapering between £100,000 and £125,140 (an effective 60% band). Class 4 National Insurance is 6% between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2%, with Class 2 settled through Self Assessment. Scottish taxpayers use an S code with six bands (19/20/21/42/45/48%); Welsh taxpayers use a C code at rates that currently match the rest of the UK, while NIC stays UK-wide.

Key reliefs to make sure your filing captures: the £1,000 trading allowance (if expenses are below this, claim the allowance instead); the VAT registration threshold of £90,000 on a rolling 12-month basis; the £500 dividend allowance with rates of 8.75/33.75/39.35%; and for landlords, mortgage-interest relief restricted to a 20% tax credit on SA105 (note the Furnished Holiday Lettings regime was abolished from April 2025). If you have multiple income streams, model them together with the multiple-income calculator. With Taxfix's Self Assessment service the accountant handles these reliefs for you; with TapTax you keep them captured as you go, so nothing is reconstructed from memory in January.

If you work in construction under CIS, contractors deduct 20% from registered subcontractors (30% if unregistered) on labour, which usually leaves subcontractors due a refund through Self Assessment. Taxfix's accountant reflects that within the prepared return; TapTax tracks the deductions as you go so the refund position is visible before year-end.

Who should choose which

If you want an accountant to file a one-off annual return

Taxfix. Its done-for-you Self Assessment, with an accredited accountant and an accuracy guarantee, is exactly this job, and £99 to £349 is keen against a high-street accountant.

If you are a sole trader heading into mandatory MTD over £50,000

TapTax. From April 2026 you need quarterly updates, not one annual return. TapTax's free tier lets you connect your bank and test the full flow before paying, then Starter at £4.99 a month keeps you automated and submission-ready every quarter, with no permanent paywall to begin.

If you want the cheapest ongoing MTD software

Compare directly. TapTax's free and £4.99 tiers versus Taxfix's £4.99 self-service MTD tier. The deciding factors are TapTax's permanently free option, its mobile-first sole-trader design and built-in automation, against Taxfix's optional paid accountant review at higher tiers.

If you would rather a professional checked every filing

Taxfix's £24.99 or £39.99 MTD tiers, or its Self Assessment service, bundle accountant review or management. If self-filing makes you nervous, that human safety net is worth weighing against TapTax's lower cost and self-serve automation.

The bottom line

Taxfix and TapTax are not quite the same kind of product. Taxfix, built on TaxScouts, leads with people: a qualified UK accountant prepares and files your return, which is reassuring and well established, and it has bolted a capable MTD software product alongside. TapTax leads with software: low-cost, mobile-first, automated, quarterly-native, and free to start.

For an accountant-handled annual return, or MTD with a professional checking each submission, Taxfix is the honest recommendation. For automated, continuous bookkeeping and the lowest-cost, one-tap quarterly MTD workflow as the rules tighten through 2026 to 2028, TapTax is the sharper everyday tool, with a free tier so you can judge it against your own numbers before spending a penny. Many sole traders will run TapTax day-to-day and reserve a done-for-you service like Taxfix only for an unusually complex year.

People also ask

Is Taxfix HMRC-recognised?

Is TaxScouts now Taxfix?

Can TapTax and Taxfix be used together?

Does TapTax file Self Assessment like Taxfix?