Can I still use a spreadsheet under Making Tax Digital?

Yes. MTD for Income Tax requires digital records and digital submission, and a spreadsheet is a digital record. What it does not allow is retyping figures from your spreadsheet into a submission form, because the digital link between record and submission has to be preserved. That is exactly what bridging software provides, and the option is permanent rather than transitional. HMRC's own directory shows how mainstream it is: 71 of the 133 listed products offer bridging, and 23 of them do bridging without keeping records at all. The practical warning is that a spreadsheet gives you no safety net, and MTD moves the filing rhythm from one annual return to four quarterly updates plus a final declaration, which is what usually exposes a fragile workbook.

What is the cheapest MTD bridging software?

On our August 2026 research the cheapest paid option per taxpayer is Absolute Excel Income Tax Filer, from £40 plus VAT per tax year covering five National Insurance numbers, which works out around £8 per taxpayer a year. 123 Sheets was £19.75 a year excluding VAT per taxpayer with a first-year discount against a list price around £39.50. VitalTax was £30 a year excluding VAT for one taxpayer, dropping per person at its multi-taxpayer tiers, and Forbes MTD was £40 plus VAT for a single user. Self Assessment Direct and My Tax Digital both offer bridging at £0. Headline prices are not comparable until you check whether they are per taxpayer or per licence, which is the distinction we take apart in our bridging cost guide.

Is bridging software a good long-term answer for MTD?

It is a permanent option rather than a stopgap, so the question is about fit rather than about durability. Bridging suits someone with an established, accurate spreadsheet workflow, someone whose accountant works from their workbook, and households or practices filing for several taxpayers, where per-taxpayer bridging prices beat per-user subscriptions comfortably. It suits far less well anyone whose record-keeping is the actual problem, because a bridge does not improve the records underneath it and quarterly updates apply four times the pressure that an annual return did. A useful test is to ask whether your last tax year would have been easier if the deadline had come four times, and answer honestly.

Does VitalTax cover foreign property income?

Yes. HMRC grades VitalTax ready on sole trader, UK property and foreign property income, which is a narrower capability than most people assume: only 68 of the 133 listed products can report foreign property at all. It is also graded ready on foreign dividends and foreign interest as return items, so someone with genuinely international income is well covered on paper. That makes it one of the stronger options for an overseas rental if you want to keep records in Excel. TapTax also covers all three income sources including the per-property foreign detail, and keeps the records itself rather than bridging from a workbook.

TapTax vs VitalTax
Keep the spreadsheet, or replace it

VitalTax is an Excel add-in that sends your spreadsheet figures to HMRC. It is graded not included on keeping digital records, because your workbook is the record. That single design decision is the whole comparison, and it is a genuine choice rather than a shortcoming.

HMRC directory dataPricing checked Aug 2026Bridging explainedNo affiliate bias

Written by the TapTax research teamReviewed by Solomon Amos, PhDLast reviewed: 5 August 2026

Estimate your self-employed tax in seconds

See what you would owe for the year, then file the real figures with TapTax in a couple of taps.

Gross business income

Total turnover before expenses

Business expenses

Under £1,000 we use the trading allowance automatically

Estimated tax bill

£6,872

15.3% effective rate for 2026/27

Income tax: £5,286
Class 4 NI: £1,586

Take-home pay

£32,128

after tax, NI and expenses

This is an estimate using GOV.UK rates for 2026/27, not your official tax calculation. TapTax is MTD-compatible, so you can connect to HMRC and file the real figures in a couple of taps.

Full calculator

These two products are not competing for the same job, and any comparison that pretends otherwise is misleading you.

TapTax replaces the spreadsheet. VitalTax preserves it. HMRC's directory records the difference precisely: VitalTax is graded ready on bridging software and not included on software that creates digital records. Your workbook is the record. The add-in sits inside Excel and sends the figures to HMRC.

That is a legitimate design and a legal one. MTD requires digital records, not any particular vendor's records, and a spreadsheet has always qualified. So the real question this page has to answer is not which product is better, it is whether your spreadsheet deserves to survive MTD.

Key takeaways

VitalTax was £30 a year excluding VAT for one taxpayer when we checked in August 2026, rising to £54 for two, £72 for three and £198 for unlimited, with the first quarterly submission free.
HMRC grades it not included on keeping digital records and ready on bridging, so your Excel workbook is the record and you own its accuracy and backups.
It is graded ready on 9 of the 16 tax-return items with 7 more in development, and ready on all three income sources including foreign property.
The Android and iOS flags on its listing come from Office rather than a dedicated VitalTax app, on our August 2026 research.
TapTax keeps records natively with open banking, AI categorisation and receipt capture, does not do bridging by design, and is going through HMRC's recognition process.

From £30/yr

VitalTax ex VAT, Aug 2026

9 of 16

VitalTax return items ready

Not included

VitalTax digital records (HMRC)

Bridging software: A tool that reads figures from a spreadsheet and submits them to HMRC through the MTD interface, without replacing the spreadsheet. It exists because MTD requires digital records and digital submission, but does not require you to abandon a workbook you already keep. The digital link between your records and the submission must be preserved, which in practice means the figures travel from cell to HMRC without being retyped. Bridging is a legitimate and permanent route to compliance, not a transitional measure.

How HMRC's own directory grades VitalTax

HMRC publishes a feature grid for every listed product using its own three-state scale of ready now, in development, or not included. We scraped all 133 listings on 23 August 2026.

VitalTax

£30/yr ex VAT for 1 taxpayer, £198 unlimited(checked August 2026)

Free version: no
Android; Apple iOS: yes
Sole trader income: yes
UK property income: yes
Foreign property income: yes
Keeps digital records: no

9/16 tax-return items ready, 7 more in development.

HMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 23 August 2026. Feature flags are vendor-declared. Vendor site

An Excel add-in. Graded not included on keeping digital records, so your workbook is the record. First quarterly submission free; no free tier beyond that.

HMRC lists what each vendor declares. Feature flags, mobile-app support in particular, are vendor claims rather than verified facts, and listings change. Check with the vendor before you buy. Data: HMRC find-MTD-software service (tax.service.gov.uk), scraped 23 August 2026.

The rest of the row is strong. Bridging ready, agent software ready, standard and calendar update periods ready, all three business income sources ready including foreign property, and 9 of the 16 tax-return items ready. Besides the record-keeping grade, which is the whole design, the only other absences are a free version and HMRC Assist. For a product doing one narrow job, that is a thorough listing.

The 23 products that cannot keep your records

Bridging is a much bigger part of this market than the coverage suggests.

71of 133 (53%)offer bridging from a spreadsheetHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 23 August 2026

That is direct evidence about intent rather than about software: a majority of listed products expect a meaningful share of MTD-mandated people to keep using a spreadsheet. Within that group there is a subset that does bridging and nothing else.

23of 133 (17%)do bridging only, with no digital record-keepingHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 23 August 2026

Products graded ready on bridging but not on keeping digital records, as HMRC graded them on the 23 August 2026 scrape. For each of these, your spreadsheet is the record.
Product	Free	Sole trader	UK property	Foreign property	Mobile app	Return items
TaxUpdates	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	15/16
flonancial	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not included	Not listed	0/16
@Taxd MTD	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Not included	Not listed	0/16
Aligned.tax MTD for Spreadsheets	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	0/16
MTD Companion for iPhone & iPad	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Apple iOS	16/16
suiteSheets	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Not included	Not listed	0/16
Otis Tax	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	4/16
Acorah Software Products Ltd (TaxCalc)	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	0/16
@1TaxFiler	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	0/16
1 1 MTD Bridge	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	0/16
Property Income eReturn	Not included	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Android; Apple iOS	0/16
123 e-Filing MTD for Income Tax	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	14/16
Taxtool for Income Tax	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	3/16
Abridge (MTD for Excel/Sheets)	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Android; Apple iOS	15/16
AbraTax MTD for Income Tax	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	15/16
MTD Companion for macOS	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	16/16
CHM ITSA BRIDGE	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	0/16
100PcMTD	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	0/16
Absolute Excel Income Tax Filer	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	10/16
VitalTax	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Android; Apple iOS	9/16
MTD Sheets	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	0/16
Andica MTD ITSA Software	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	0/16
Acctax (Online) Ltd	Not included	Ready now	Ready now	Ready now	Not listed	13/16

Products graded ready on bridging but not on keeping digital records, as HMRC graded them on the 23 August 2026 scrape. For each of these, your spreadsheet is the record. Ready now, in development and not included are HMRC’s own grades. Income sources are the business income a product can report.

VitalTax is on that list, and the practical consequence is worth stating without drama. Nothing is checking your workbook. There is no double-entry underneath it, no reconciliation against a bank feed, no system that notices a formula reaching one row short of the data. Spreadsheets fail quietly, and MTD asks you to file from one four times a year rather than once.

If the spreadsheet is genuinely well kept, none of that is a problem and the software should not be blamed for a discipline it never claimed to supply. If it is not, bridging locks the weakness in.

The remaining products keep records natively.

110of 133 (83%)keep digital records nativelyHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 23 August 2026

We set out what bridging actually costs across the whole category, including the per-taxpayer versus per-licence distinction that makes headline prices misleading, in our guide to MTD spreadsheet templates and bridging costs. It also includes a free MTD-ready template if you decide the spreadsheet route is the right one.

The mobile flag, explained rather than repeated

VitalTax's listing declares Android and Apple iOS. Read alone, that suggests a phone app.

Our August 2026 research found the explanation: VitalTax is an Excel add-in and runs wherever Office runs, including the Office mobile apps. So the declared platforms belong to the host application. It is not a false claim, and the add-in genuinely does work on a phone in that sense, but a spreadsheet on a five-inch screen is a different proposition from an app built for the screen.

This matters because the mobile question in MTD is not really about filing, it is about capture. Expenses arrive as a card payment at a merchant's counter, a fuel receipt in a van, a parking charge between jobs. The tool that catches those at the moment they happen decides how much work is left at quarter end.

Bridging solves the submission. It does not solve the bookkeeping, and under MTD the bookkeeping is now due four times a year instead of once.

TapTax, MTD comparison

Pricing in detail, checked August 2026

	TapTax Free	TapTax Starter	TapTax Pro	VitalTax
Cost, one taxpayer	£0	£4.99/mo	£9.99/mo	£30/yr ex VAT
Approx. annual cost inc VAT	£0	£49	£99	£36
Two taxpayers	£0	£98	£198	£54/yr ex VAT
Three taxpayers	£0	£147	£297	£72/yr ex VAT
Unlimited taxpayers	n/a	n/a	n/a	£198/yr ex VAT
Free element	Permanent free tier	n/a	n/a	First quarterly submission
Keeps digital records	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not included (HMRC grade)
Bridging from a spreadsheet	No, by design	No, by design	No, by design	Ready (HMRC grade)
Return items ready	6 to 8 of 16 (our estimate)	6 to 8 of 16 (our estimate)	6 to 8 of 16 (our estimate)	9 of 16 (HMRC grade)
Sole trader income	Yes	Yes	Yes	Ready (HMRC grade)
UK property	Yes	Yes	Yes	Ready (HMRC grade)
Foreign property	Yes	Yes	Yes	Ready (HMRC grade)
Calendar quarters	Yes	Yes	Yes	Ready (HMRC grade)
Agent software	No	No	No	Ready (HMRC grade)
Open banking import	Yes	Yes	Yes	No; figures come from Excel
Receipt capture	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Mobile	iOS and Android apps	iOS and Android apps	iOS and Android apps	Via Office mobile
HMRC directory status	Not listed; recognition in progress	Not listed; recognition in progress	Not listed; recognition in progress	Listed

VitalTax pricing is from our own vendor research as checked in August 2026 and is stated excluding VAT as published. Feature grades in its column are HMRC's, from the 23 August 2026 scrape. TapTax pricing is our own published pricing. The TapTax annual figures are its published annual-plan prices, £49 for Starter and £99 for Pro, rather than twelve times the monthly rate.

The per-taxpayer maths is where VitalTax gets interesting and where a straight monthly comparison misses the point. Two spouses with rental income each need their own MTD submissions. On a per-user subscription that is two accounts. On VitalTax it is £54 a year excluding VAT for the pair, or roughly £27 each, and three taxpayers works out around £24 each. The unlimited tier at £198 is priced for practices rather than people. TapTax's free tier is still £0 per person, so the comparison only bites at paid tiers.

Where VitalTax genuinely wins

Continuity, price at multiples, and completeness.

If you have a workbook you trust and a routine that works, VitalTax lets you keep both and adds a submission route for £30 a year excluding VAT. Nothing migrates, nothing has to be re-learned, and the file you have used for years stays the file you use. That is worth real money to anyone whose records are genuinely well kept, and it is the reason bridging exists as a permanent option rather than a transitional one.

It is ahead of TapTax on return items, 9 against roughly six to eight, and ready on all three income sources including foreign property. It is graded ready on agent software, which TapTax is not. It handles multiple taxpayers cheaply. And it is listed with HMRC today, while TapTax is not.

Where TapTax fits better

The records themselves, and the year that produces them.

TapTax does not do bridging and never will, because the design assumption is the opposite one: the reason quarterly filing hurts is not the submission, it is arriving at a deadline with three months of uncategorised transactions. So open banking pulls transactions in as they happen, AI categorisation proposes the treatment, receipt capture works from the camera at the counter, and CSV import with presets for 16 UK banks covers accounts a feed does not reach. The quarterly update becomes a review of work already done rather than an evening of typing.

There is also a free tier, which VitalTax has no equivalent of beyond a free first submission, and native apps on both stores rather than Excel on a phone.

None of that helps if your spreadsheet is already excellent. It helps a great deal if the spreadsheet is the thing you keep meaning to update.

If you want to see the numbers before choosing, the sole trader tax calculator covers the trading side including Class 4 NIC, and the rental income calculator applies the finance-cost restriction limiting mortgage interest relief to a 20% credit.

Who should choose which

Has a spreadsheet that already works. VitalTax. £30 a year excluding VAT to keep a system you trust is a good trade, and switching costs are real even when they are not financial.

Two or three taxpayers in one household. VitalTax, on price. £54 for two and £72 for three excluding VAT undercuts almost every per-user subscription, with MTD 4 Income Tax at £20 each the notable exception.

An accountant or bookkeeper with a client book. VitalTax's unlimited tier at £198 a year excluding VAT, with agent software graded ready. TapTax has no agent product.

Wants Excel but does not have a good workbook yet. Start from a template rather than a blank sheet, then decide. Ours is free and MTD-shaped, in the bridging guide.

Dreads the quarterly rhythm more than the filing. TapTax. Bridging preserves the workflow that makes quarters painful; automatic capture is what changes it.

Wants to pay nothing. TapTax's free tier, or one of the genuinely free listed products in our free MTD roundup. VitalTax gives away the first quarterly submission only.

Must file a live submission this week. VitalTax, or another listed product. TapTax's recognition is in progress and we will not tell you otherwise.

The bottom line

VitalTax is a well-specified tool for a clearly defined job: get the figures out of Excel and into HMRC, cheaply, for one taxpayer or twenty. On HMRC's grades it does that job with all three income sources, calendar quarters, agent support and 9 of the 16 return items, which is better than most products manage at any price.

What it does not do, and does not claim to do, is keep your records. That is the choice you are actually making. If your spreadsheet is good, keep it and buy the bridge. If your spreadsheet is a January ritual, MTD is about to ask for it four times a year, and a bridge over a weak workbook is still a weak workbook.

TapTax is built for the second case: records kept automatically, categorised as they arrive, reviewed on a phone, submitted in a couple of taps. We are behind VitalTax on return items, we do not do bridging, and TapTax is MTD-compatible and going through HMRC's recognition process rather than listed today.

The full field, with HMRC's real grades rather than anyone's marketing, is in the MTD software directory.

Other comparisons

Frequently asked questions

How much does VitalTax cost?

Our pricing research in August 2026 found VitalTax priced per taxpayer: £30 a year excluding VAT for one taxpayer, £54 for two, £72 for three and £198 for unlimited taxpayers, with the first quarterly submission free. Add 20% if you cannot recover VAT, which takes a single taxpayer to £36 a year. The per-taxpayer structure is the important part. At one taxpayer it is one of the cheaper routes to compliance; at three it works out around £24 each excluding VAT, and the unlimited tier is aimed at accountants and bookkeepers rather than individuals. Compare that with subscription products where each person needs their own account at full price.

Does VitalTax keep my records for me?

No, and it is not meant to. HMRC grades VitalTax as not included on software that creates digital records and ready on bridging software, which places it among the 23 listed products that bridge without keeping records. Your Excel workbook is the digital record for MTD purposes, and the add-in reads figures from it and submits them. That is entirely legal: MTD requires digital records, not any particular product's records, and a spreadsheet qualifies. What it means practically is that the accuracy, backups and version control of that workbook are yours to manage, because there is no system underneath quietly enforcing them.

Does VitalTax work on a phone?

HMRC's directory lists Android and Apple iOS against VitalTax, and the explanation is Excel rather than VitalTax. Our August 2026 research recorded it as an Excel add-in that runs wherever Office runs, which includes the Office mobile apps. So the declared mobile support is the host application's, not a dedicated VitalTax app, and the experience is a spreadsheet on a small screen rather than a tax app. If capturing an expense on a phone at the moment it happens is the part of MTD you expect to struggle with, that distinction matters more than the tick does.

How many tax-return items does VitalTax support?

9 of HMRC's 16 at our 23 August 2026 scrape, with 7 more graded in development. The ready set is UK interest, UK dividends, private pension income, foreign dividends, foreign interest, Construction Industry Scheme, student loan, marriage allowance and voluntary Class 2 National Insurance. The 7 in development are employment PAYE, state pension income, partnership income, private pension contributions, charitable giving, capital gains and the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Nine puts VitalTax in the top cohort of the directory, since 93 of the 133 listed products cannot complete a single return item, and it is ahead of TapTax at roughly six to eight of 16.

Should I keep my spreadsheet or move to an app for MTD?

Honestly, it depends on how good your spreadsheet already is. If you have a workbook you trust, that reconciles to your bank, that you maintain without effort and that has survived a few tax years, bridging is a rational choice and moving to an app buys you very little. If your spreadsheet is really a shoebox of receipts entered in a panic each January, then bridging preserves the actual problem and adds a subscription to it, because MTD asks for four updates a year rather than one. The quarterly rhythm is what usually breaks a spreadsheet workflow rather than the filing itself, and that is the question worth answering before you compare prices.

TapTax connects to your bank, categorises expenses automatically and submits quarterly updates to HMRC. Free plan, no card required.

Get started free

TapTax vs VitalTaxKeep the spreadsheet, or replace it