Can You Use a Spreadsheet for Making Tax Digital?

Short answer: yes for your records, no for the submission — unless you connect the two properly. Here are the actual rules.

The two-tool setup in one sentence: keep your records in a spreadsheet, send the quarterly update through HMRC-recognised software, and connect them with a digital link (a CSV import counts).

What the rules actually require

HMRC's Making Tax Digital rules ask for two things, and neither is "buy expensive software":

Digital records — every transaction with an amount, a date and a category. A spreadsheet does this perfectly.
Submission through recognised software — the quarterly update has to go through a tool on HMRC's recognised list. A spreadsheet cannot submit anything itself.

The digital link rule (where people get it wrong)

Your records and your submitter must be digitally linked — no re-typing between them. HMRC calls manual re-entry "transcription" and explicitly excludes it.

Method	Counts as a digital link?
Importing a CSV export from your spreadsheet	Yes
Linked cells between spreadsheet files	Yes
An API connection between tools	Yes
Emailing a spreadsheet that the software imports directly	Yes
Typing your category totals into a web form by hand	No — this is transcription

⚠️ If your plan is "keep a spreadsheet, then type the numbers into some software each quarter" — that breaks the rules. Pick a submitter that accepts CSV imports; most of the cheap ones do.

What a compliant spreadsheet looks like

One row per transaction: date, amount, category
Categories matching HMRC's quarterly update lists (they publish the standard set)
Totals by category per quarter, so the update is a copy-paste rather than a re-count
A CSV export that your recognised software can import

FAQs

Is Excel "MTD-compliant software"?

No — Excel is not on HMRC's recognised list and cannot submit updates. It is perfectly acceptable for record-keeping, joined to a recognised submitter by a digital link.

What's the cheapest way to be fully compliant?

A spreadsheet plus a low-cost submitter. Some bridging tools are free for 2026/27; paid options start around £36/year. See our cheap MTD software comparison.

Does this apply to me?

If your qualifying income (gross self-employment plus property income) went over £50,000, you're in MTD from April 2026. Over £30,000 joins April 2027. Full dates on our MTD deadlines page.

What about the quarterly deadline?

The next one is 7 November 2026 for the July–October quarter. No penalty points apply this tax year, but unfiled quarters pile up.

A spreadsheet built for exactly this

HMRC category dropdowns, Q1–Q4 totals, CSV export, editable tax estimate. On Etsy from £8.99 in the current sale.

See the MTD Tracker