Best Self Assessment software for sole traders
Filing your own tax return? Here's a plain-English comparison of the main Self Assessment options for sole traders - from HMRC's free service to low-cost software and accountant-filed returns.
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10/7/20263 min read
Best Self Assessment software for sole traders
The online deadline for your 2025/26 tax return is 31 January 2027. That sounds a long way off in October, but this is the best time to choose how you're going to file. You have three real options: use HMRC's own free service, use software that guides you through it, or pay someone to do it for you.
Here's a plain-English look at each one, what it costs and who it suits.
Do you need software at all?
Not necessarily. HMRC's own online service is free to use and free to file. You sign in, fill in the sections that apply to you, and HMRC works out what you owe. You can save your return and come back to it.
It does the job, but it has limits:
It won't prompt you for expenses or reliefs you might have missed
It doesn't cover every type of return - partnerships, trusts and non-residents need commercial software or a paper return
It can't be used for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
You need your totals worked out before you start
If your affairs are simple and you're comfortable reading HMRC's guidance, it's a perfectly good choice. See our HMRC Free Online Service page for more detail.
Do-it-yourself software
These tools ask you questions in plain English, calculate your bill as you go and file directly with HMRC.
GoSimpleTax is free to try with no card needed. You enter your figures, see your estimated bill, and only pay when you're ready to submit - £69.99 per tax year on a subscription, or £113.99 as a one-off. It flags allowances and reliefs you might have missed and covers self-employment, employment, property, foreign income and capital gains in one return.
TaxCalc is desktop software you install on Windows, Mac or Linux. One £42 licence covers up to six returns for the tax year, which makes it good value for a household with more than one return to file. It includes every supplementary page, so it handles returns HMRC's free service can't. There's a 14-day free trial.
Free apps that also handle Making Tax Digital
A newer group of tools combines Self Assessment filing with the quarterly updates that Making Tax Digital requires. They're worth a look if MTD already applies to you, or will from April 2027.
Pie Tax - a free, app-based option for sole traders with simple affairs
TaxNav - free and browser-based, with nothing to install
Untied - an app with a free tier for simple cases and paid plans for more features
Have an accountant do it for you
If you'd rather not do the return yourself, Taxfix (formerly TaxScouts) pairs you with a UK-based accountant who prepares and files it for a fixed fee. You answer a few questions online, send your documents, and your accountant usually files within two days of having everything.
Prices currently start at £99 for new customers (usually £169), with higher plans at £149 and £349 that add a tax-planning call, HMRC letter support and year-round access to your accountant.
It costs more than doing it yourself, but you know the price before you start and a qualified person has checked your figures.
What about Making Tax Digital?
If your self-employment and property income was over £50,000, you've been in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax since April 2026. That covers the 2026/27 tax year onwards. Your 2025/26 return is still filed the usual way, by 31 January 2027, so everything in this post still applies to you this winter.
From April 2027 the threshold drops to £30,000. Our post on the best MTD software for sole traders covers the tools that handle quarterly updates.
How to choose
If your return is simple and you want to pay nothing: HMRC's free online service
If you want guidance and tax-saving prompts: GoSimpleTax - try it free and see your bill before you pay
If your household files more than one return, or your return is more involved: TaxCalc
If you'd rather hand it over: Taxfix
If MTD applies to you soon and you want one free tool for both: Pie Tax or TaxNav
Whichever you pick, don't leave it until the last week of January. Miss the 31 January deadline and HMRC charges an initial £100 penalty, even if you have no tax to pay.
You can compare all of these side by side in our Tax Filing Software directory.
Prices checked October 2026. Always check each provider's website for current pricing before signing up.
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