Making Tax Digital, built into your diary.
Required over £50,000 now, and over £30,000 from April 2027. Orbit keeps your lesson income and expenses ready for your quarterly updates.
Key benefits
Built on HMRC's MTD API
Orbit connects straight to HMRC's Making Tax Digital for Income Tax API, with no third-party accounting package in between. Live submissions open once HMRC approves Orbit.
Review, then send
Orbit totals your income and expenses for each update period so you can check the figures before anything goes to HMRC.
Income auto-tracked
Card payments taken through Orbit are recorded in your tax records automatically. Cash and bank transfers you log in the app are included too.
Expense categorisation
Log fuel, maintenance, insurance, phone bills and other business expenses as you go. Orbit maps them to HMRC's Self Assessment expense categories.
Fraud prevention built in
HMRC requires fraud prevention headers on its MTD API calls. Orbit collects and sends them for you.
Year-end tax return
After the tax year, Orbit brings your quarterly figures together for your tax return (HMRC calls the final step the final declaration), for you to review and submit from the same app once live submissions open.
How Making Tax Digital works for driving instructors
Under Making Tax Digital, you send four quarterly updates to HMRC during the tax year, then submit your tax return through the same software by 31 January. Each update covers the tax year so far and is a summary, not a tax return. You stay in Self Assessment: HMRC says quarterly updates do not replace it. Orbit tracks your lesson income and expenses and formats each update for HMRC's API; live submissions open once HMRC approves Orbit.
- Quarterly updates due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May
- Each update covers income and expenses for the tax year to date
- Tax return submitted through your software by 31 January
- One app for records and submissions, so there's no retyping figures into another system
Income and expenses in one place
Card payments are recorded the moment a pupil pays through Orbit, and you log expenses and mileage in the app as they happen. HMRC's flat mileage rate can't be used for a dual-control car, so Orbit logs mileage alongside your actual vehicle costs. When an update is due, your figures are already there.
- Card payments taken through Orbit recorded automatically
- Mileage logging and actual vehicle-cost tracking
- Categorise expenses as you go: fuel, insurance, maintenance and more
- Tax summary dashboard shows your position at a glance, any time
MTD reaches £30,000 in April 2027, and penalty points follow
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax started on 6 April 2026 for sole traders with qualifying income over £50,000, and from 6 April 2027 it covers sole traders over £30,000. There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline in the 2026-27 tax year, but a late tax return still earns a penalty point. From 2027-28, each missed quarterly deadline earns a point, and 4 points means a £200 penalty. TotalDrive and MyDriveTime route HMRC submission through third-party accounting software or partners. Orbit is built on HMRC's MTD for Income Tax API directly and is completing HMRC's software recognition process; live submissions open once HMRC approves it.
- Over £50,000 from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027, over £20,000 from April 2028
- No penalty points for late quarterly updates in 2026-27
- From 2027-28: a point per missed deadline, £200 at 4 points
- Live submissions from Orbit open once HMRC approves it
