Sage wants to help small UK businesses cope with changing tax rules

Hot on the heels of the UK’s latest budget announcement under new Labor leadership, accounting giant Wise has launched a free tool to help customers familiarize themselves with the changes.

Sage Accounting Individual Free has been made available to help sole traders and owners prepare for the upcoming digital tax regulations they will have to comply with from 2026.

The upcoming income tax digitalization legislation will affect around 2.8 million sole traders and landlords earning more than £20,000 across the country.

Sage prepares for upcoming MTD legislation

With the government’s digital tax legislation expanding to more types of workers, digital record keeping will be mandatory. Sage’s solution targets those who currently rely on paper tracking with an easy-to-use system available on web and mobile.

Neal Watkins, senior vice president for small business at Sage, said many existing tools can be time-consuming, impacting small businesses’ ability to focus on generating revenue. He added: “Our goal is to help small businesses and sole traders thrive by providing them with the tools and guidance needed to succeed and making it easier for smaller businesses to enter the digital economy. »

Sage’s MTD solution allows users to capture, categorize and organize incoming and outgoing money for free, but they can also choose to upgrade to more comprehensive systems for more advanced financial tracking.

Treasury Secretary James Murray said MTD systems help reduce errors, making the tax system more efficient. Murray added: “It’s fantastic to see industry leaders working with us to modernize the tax system by providing free software to tens of thousands of UK businesses. »

The company is committed to making the free system a reality for sole traders and homeowners across the UK, but a launch date has not yet been announced.