7 HMRC app alternatives for UK self-employed tax in 2026
The HMRC app is genuinely useful for the everyday stuff. It shows your tax code before payday, holds your National Insurance number, tracks your State Pension forecast, and lets you claim a tax refund in a couple of taps. Where it stops helping is the moment you have self-employed income. HMRC’s own app cannot file a Self Assessment return, cannot submit quarterly Making Tax Digital for Income Tax updates, and does not categorise a single expense from your bank feed. From April 2026 MTD for Income Tax starts to bite for sole traders and landlords with combined turnover above £50,000, and the HMRC app is not in that submission pipeline. These HMRC alternatives fill the gap: apps that connect to your bank, tag transactions, calculate real-time tax, and submit returns directly to HMRC’s APIs.
We picked seven that are HMRC-recognised, actively maintained, and available on Android in the UK.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free tier | Files MTD/Self Assessment | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| untied | Mobile-first personal tax | 30-day trial | Yes | Bank-feed tagging + direct HMRC submission |
| ANNA Money | Business account with built-in tax | Free plan available | Yes (paid tier) | Business current account + Auto Accountant |
| Coconut | Sole traders and small ltd companies | Trial | Yes | Categorises expenses across linked accounts |
| FreeAgent | Full small-business accounting | Free with NatWest/Mettle account | Yes | Deep invoicing, expenses, VAT and Corporation Tax |
| Xero | Growing businesses with an accountant | Trial | Yes | Widest ecosystem of add-ons and accountants |
| Tide | Business banking plus accounting add-ons | Free plan | Via Tide Accounting add-on | Fast Companies House registration + business card |
| Sage Accounting | Established sole traders and small firms | Trial | Yes | Long track record, deep MTD compliance |
Why people need more than the HMRC app
It doesn’t file Self Assessment. The HMRC app lets you make Self Assessment payments and view information you’ll need to file, but the return itself still has to go through the HMRC portal or a third-party app. For anyone with self-employed, rental, or dividend income, that gap forces a separate tool.
MTD for Income Tax needs quarterly digital submissions. Sole traders and landlords caught by the £50,000 threshold from April 2026, and £30,000 from April 2027, have to send updates every three months from HMRC-recognised software. The HMRC app is not on that list. Users on Reddit’s r/UKPersonalFinance and r/SmallBusinessUK have been asking for MTD-ready swap-ins throughout 2025.
No bank feeds. Every alternative here connects to your bank and tags income and expenses automatically. The HMRC app has no such feature, so tracking allowable expenses means keeping a spreadsheet on the side.
No expense categorisation. Allowable expenses (mileage, home office, subscriptions, tools) need to be recorded, categorised, and stored with receipts. The HMRC app doesn’t do any of that.
No real-time tax estimate. You find out what you owe when you file. The alternatives update the number every time a transaction is tagged, which changes how you set money aside during the year.
The best HMRC app alternatives
1. untied — best for mobile-first personal tax
untied is the closest thing to a phone-only Self Assessment. It links your bank accounts, auto-tags income and expenses using rules you set once, tracks mileage, calculates tax owed in real time, and submits Self Assessment and MTD for Income Tax updates directly to HMRC. It was the first app HMRC recognised end-to-end for MTD for Income Tax, which matters because a lot of software still routes through a web portal at the final step. untied vs HMRC: untied does the filing HMRC’s app leaves you to do somewhere else.
Where it falls short: the mobile-only workflow is a limitation once your business has more than a handful of income streams. Multi-property landlords with complex portfolios usually prefer a desktop UI. No invoicing.
Pricing: 30-day free trial. A modest annual subscription for filing.
Switching from HMRC’s app: keep the HMRC app for tax code checks and NI lookups. Use untied to link the bank you receive self-employed income into, categorise the last full tax year, and file from the same app.
Bottom line: the right pick for sole traders and landlords who want a phone-first Self Assessment and MTD workflow.
2. ANNA Money — best free option with a business account included
ANNA Money wraps a UK business current account, a Mastercard debit card, invoicing, expense tracking, and an “Auto Accountant” tax module into a single app. The free “Pay As You Go” tier covers the basics for sole traders and small limited companies; paid tiers unlock unlimited transfers and the full tax filing service including Self Assessment and VAT. ANNA vs HMRC: ANNA gives you the business account, the invoicing, the expense capture, and the return, while HMRC’s app only shows what you owe after the fact.
Where it falls short: the free tier limits free UK transfers and has caps on the Auto Accountant features. Best value comes from the paid Business or Big Business plans, which push it into a monthly subscription.
Pricing: free Pay As You Go plan. Paid business plans starting at a low monthly fee.
Switching from HMRC’s app: open ANNA, move self-employed income into the ANNA account so the auto-categorisation works from day one. File Self Assessment through the tax module.
Bottom line: best when you want the business account, the tax filing, and the invoicing all inside one app.
3. Coconut — best for sole traders and small limited companies
Coconut is built around one job: showing a self-employed person or contractor exactly how much tax they owe at any point in the year. It links to over 30 UK banks and credit-card providers, categorises transactions into HMRC-friendly buckets, generates Self Assessment returns, and now handles MTD for Income Tax filings. FCA-regulated as an Account Information Service Provider. Coconut vs HMRC: Coconut turns bank-feed noise into a tax figure; HMRC waits until you total it up yourself.
Where it falls short: no business account of its own — it reads your existing accounts. Limited-company support is thinner than the sole-trader flow.
Pricing: trial period, then a monthly subscription per plan.
Switching from HMRC’s app: connect the bank account you use for self-employed income, categorise the current tax year, then keep the HMRC app for pension and tax-code checks.
Bottom line: pick this if the priority is a clean, running tax figure across banks you already use.
4. FreeAgent — best full accounting suite for freelancers
FreeAgent is a small-business accounting platform used by hundreds of thousands of UK freelancers and contractors. It handles invoicing, expenses, VAT, Self Assessment for sole traders, and Corporation Tax for limited companies, and files MTD returns directly. Free for anyone with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank, or Mettle business account, which covers a large chunk of UK sole traders. FreeAgent vs HMRC: FreeAgent replaces the whole spreadsheet-plus-portal workflow HMRC’s app leaves you with.
Where it falls short: free access is tied to specific bank accounts. Outside that, monthly pricing is above the personal-tax apps. The mobile UI covers the essentials but the full workflow is stronger on desktop.
Pricing: free with an eligible NatWest/RBS/Mettle account. Otherwise a monthly subscription per plan (sole trader, partnership, limited company).
Switching from HMRC’s app: open a Mettle business account for free FreeAgent access, or start a paid FreeAgent trial, then import the current tax year and file from there.
Bottom line: the strongest pick for freelancers with a NatWest-group or Mettle account, and a serious contender for anyone running a small limited company.
5. Xero — best for growing businesses with an accountant
Xero is the small-business accounting platform used most widely across the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, with over 3 million subscribers. It covers invoicing, bank reconciliation, expenses, payroll, MTD VAT and MTD for Income Tax, and it plugs into hundreds of add-ons for payroll, receipts, and e-commerce. Most UK accountants are Xero-certified, which matters when your business grows past DIY tax filing. Xero vs HMRC: Xero is what an accountant will point you at when you outgrow the HMRC-app-plus-spreadsheet setup.
Where it falls short: more expensive than the mobile-first personal tax apps. The full feature set assumes some accounting literacy; the phone app is deliberately trimmed compared to the browser.
Pricing: monthly subscription per plan (Ignite, Grow, Comprehensive, Ultimate). Trial available.
Switching from HMRC’s app: start a Xero trial, connect your business bank feeds, and if you already work with an accountant give them access straight away.
Bottom line: the right choice once the business is big enough that an accountant will touch the books.
6. Tide — best for combining a business account with tax add-ons
Tide is the UK’s largest digital business banking app, with a business account that opens in minutes, expense cards for the team, and a stack of add-ons that include invoicing, Tide Accounting, and payroll. Tide Accounting handles VAT returns via MTD, and the app’s tax-pot feature helps set money aside as invoices come in. Tide vs HMRC: Tide gives you the account, the card, and the accounting layer in one app; HMRC’s app only shows the final bill.
Where it falls short: the strongest tax features sit inside paid add-ons rather than the free plan. Sole traders looking purely for a personal tax filer will find untied or Coconut simpler.
Pricing: free Start plan for basic banking. Paid plans for expenses, invoicing, and accounting.
Switching from HMRC’s app: open a Tide account, route self-employed invoices through it, then add Tide Accounting when Self Assessment or VAT becomes due.
Bottom line: best fit for anyone who wants their business bank account, invoicing, and accounting inside a single mobile app.
7. Sage Accounting — best for established sole traders and small firms
Sage Accounting brings decades of UK accounting-software experience to the phone. The Android app handles invoices, quotes, expenses, receipt capture, and syncs with the Sage web version where accountants and bookkeepers work. MTD for VAT is fully supported, and the platform’s Self Assessment and MTD for Income Tax flows are built into the wider suite. Sage vs HMRC: Sage is what a firm graduates to when the accountant relationship becomes ongoing rather than annual.
Where it falls short: aimed at businesses that already have some structure — sole traders with a very simple tax return will find lighter apps quicker to get value from. Not the cheapest option.
Pricing: monthly subscription per plan (Accounting Start and up). Trial available.
Switching from HMRC’s app: start a Sage trial, invite your accountant, and connect UK bank feeds so the mobile app can capture receipts on the go.
Bottom line: the right choice for established small firms whose accountant already lives in Sage.
How to choose
Pick untied if you are a sole trader or landlord and want a phone-first Self Assessment and MTD workflow with no accounting jargon.
Pick ANNA Money if you want a free-to-start business current account with a debit card, invoicing, and tax filing bundled into one app.
Pick Coconut if your income already flows through a UK bank you like and you just need a running tax figure and a Self Assessment button.
Pick FreeAgent if you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster, or Mettle — you get the full accounting suite for free, which is unbeatable for a freelancer.
Pick Xero if the business is growing, has stock or payroll, and needs an accountant with a certified toolset.
Pick Tide if a business bank account is the missing piece and you want the accounting layer to be an add-on to that.
Pick Sage Accounting if the business is established, the accountant relationship is ongoing, and reliability matters more than mobile polish.
Keep the HMRC app installed alongside any of them. It is still the fastest way to check a tax code, look up a National Insurance number, view State Pension progress, and see a real-time payslip breakdown. Nothing above replaces those. What they do is add the filing layer HMRC’s own app leaves out.
FAQ
Can the HMRC app file my Self Assessment?
No. The HMRC app can make Self Assessment payments and show information you’ll need for the return, but the return itself has to be submitted through the HMRC portal or a piece of HMRC-recognised third-party software. That is why apps like untied, ANNA, Coconut, FreeAgent, Xero, Tide, and Sage exist.
Which HMRC alternative is best for MTD for Income Tax?
untied, FreeAgent, Xero, and Sage Accounting all handle MTD for Income Tax quarterly updates directly. untied was the first end-to-end mobile app HMRC recognised for the scheme, which makes it the cleanest fit for a sole trader on the phone.
Is there a free HMRC alternative?
FreeAgent is free for anyone with a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank, or Mettle business account, which covers a large share of UK sole traders. ANNA Money offers a free Pay As You Go plan for the business account and invoicing, with tax filing on paid tiers. Everything else here has a free trial rather than a permanent free plan.
Do I still need an accountant if I use one of these apps?
For a simple sole-trader Self Assessment with one or two income streams, most of these apps are enough on their own. Once you add limited-company status, VAT, payroll, or complex allowable expenses, an accountant pays for itself. Xero, FreeAgent, and Sage all make it easy to invite an accountant into the same file.
What is HMRC-recognised software?
HMRC publishes a list of software that has passed its technical tests for Self Assessment and MTD. Every alternative above is on the list. The HMRC recognition is what allows the app to submit returns and quarterly updates directly to HMRC’s APIs rather than routing you back through the government portal.
Can I use these apps without giving up my current business bank account?
Yes. untied, Coconut, FreeAgent, Xero, and Sage all read your existing bank feeds through Open Banking. ANNA and Tide provide their own business current account, but you can still connect other accounts alongside.
