Sole trade
Search
Search Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Support Help and Support.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Digita Personal Business and Trust Tax
  • Subject: Making Tax Digital (MTD)

Sole trades data entry

Enter sole trade business details, manage accounting and calendar settings, import quarterly data, and review annual sole trade information.

Parent screen

The
Parent
 screen shows a list of all sole trades registered with HMRC, including the following information:
  • Business Name:
     The registered name of the sole trade business.
  • Business Description:
     A description of what the business does.
  • Address:
     The registered business address.
  • Commencement Date:
     The date on which the business started trading.
  • Cessation Date:
     The date on which the business ceased trading.

Business screen

The
Business
 screen shows the details and settings for each sole trade business.
Sole trade business fields
Field
Description
Accounting Type
Select
Cash
 or
Accruals
. Digita includes your selection in the annual submission to HMRC.
Recent Changes in Business Details
Select this checkbox if recent changes have been made to the self-employment business details.
Exempt from Class 4 NICs
Select this checkbox to exempt the business from Class 4 National Insurance contributions. You need to select a reason for the exemption.
Three-Line Accounting
Use this simplified expenses option only when the taxpayer's total annual income is less than £90,000. If the total annual income exceeds £90,000 for the tax year, you'll need to report detailed expenses.
Report Consolidated Expenses
  • Select this checkbox to report consolidated expenses. This action clears existing data for unsubmitted quarters and requires you to re-import the data.
  • If submissions have already been made and you clear this checkbox, a warning appears that submitted quarters remain unchanged. You can re-import and resubmit quarterly data while submissions are open.
Calendar Election
Use this option for clients with an accounting period that begins on 1 April and ends on 31 March. Digita disables these checkboxes after you make the 1st submission.
Calendar Election Previously Claimed
Select this option only if the client previously claimed a calendar election. Digita changes the obligation periods to begin on 6 April and end on 31 March. Adjust income and expenses for 1 April to 5 April in the annual section.
Elect for Quarterly Calendar Election
Select this option if the client's accounting period begins on 1 April and ends on 31 March. Digita changes the obligation periods to begin on 6 April and end on 31 March. Adjust income and expenses for 1 April to 5 April in the annual section.

Quarterly data

When you import a sole trade business from HMRC, Digita also imports the obligation periods for that business.
HMRC requires digital linking for quarterly submissions. Data will need to transfer digitally through a spreadsheet.
Quarterly submissions for follow a cumulative approach. Each quarterly submission includes data from all previous quarters.
Quarterly data actions
Action
Description
Import
  • Import Spreadsheet
    : Upload a spreadsheet that contains the client's income and expenses for the quarter.
  • Review Spreadsheet Mapping
    : Review and verify that each transaction row from the spreadsheet maps to the correct tax category.
Clear
Clear all data in a quarter.
important
This action deletes all amounts entered for this quarter and affects annual totals. Verify if other quarters need to be updated.
Refresh
Refresh existing data in a quarter.
Last Imported
Date and time of the most recent data imported for the quarter.
Last Retrieved
The date and time of when the HMRC data for a quarter was last retrieved into Digita.
Workflow status
The workflow status is available from the 2026/27 tax year. You can select status checkboxes after you resolve all errors. If unresolved errors exist, the status checkboxes aren't available.
Workflow statuses
Status
Description
Prepared
Select this status when the quarterly submission is prepared. Digita makes all data in the quarter read-only and disables
Clear
,
Refresh
, and
Import from Spreadsheet
.
Reviewed
Select this status when the quarter is reviewed. Digita disables the
Prepared
 checkbox. If you select
Reviewed
 directly, Digita also marks the quarter as prepared.
Approved
Select this status when the quarter is approved. Digita disables the
Prepared
 and
Reviewed
 checkboxes. Digita also shows a padlock on the quarter row and locks the schedule for editing. If you select
Approved
 directly, Digita also marks the quarter as prepared and reviewed.
To unlock a locked quarter, clear the statuses in this order:
  1. Clear
    Approved
    .
  2. Clear
    Reviewed
    .
  3. Clear
    Prepared
    .

Annual summary screen

Review the annual summary for the sole trade business and make adjustments. Digita automatically pulls figures from the latest quarter as cumulative year-to-date amounts.
To override an amount, select the checkbox next to the amount. You can also adjust profit or loss and claim allowances for the business.
  • Claim Trading Allowance:
     Select this checkbox to claim the trading allowance for the business. Digita disables the expenses and capital allowances grids. You can't claim the trading allowance and expenses at the same time.
  • Claim SBA/Freeport SBA/Investment Zones SBA:
     This checkbox is available when the accounting type is
    Accruals
    . Digita disables it when the accounting type is
    Cash
    . Select this checkbox and enter the following information:
    • Category:
       Select the category of the claim.
    • First Year of Claim?:
       Select this checkbox if the current tax year is the 1st year of the claim.
    • Building Name:
       Enter the name of the building.
    • Building Number:
       Enter the number of the building.
    • Postcode:
       Enter the postcode of the building.
    • Date of SBA Qualification:
       Enter the date on which the building qualified for SBA.
  • Capital Allowances Grid:
     Enter capital allowances in this grid. Digita includes the amounts in reports and tax calculations.
  • Transition Profits:
     Select this checkbox if the Basis Period Reform affected the client's business. Enter any additional profits that need to be spread across tax years.