Can I submit Income Tax and VAT to HMRC using one free app?

Can I submit Income Tax and VAT to HMRC using one free app?

If you’re running a small business in the UK, it’s completely normal to feel like you’re juggling too many admin systems at once. One place to create invoices, another to track expenses, another to calculate VAT, another portal for tax… and then you hear about Making Tax Digital (MTD) and quarterly reporting and you start wondering: “Can I just do all of this in one app?”

The good news is that the “one app” idea is no longer wishful thinking. For many sole traders, landlords, and small limited companies, it is genuinely possible to manage invoicing, bookkeeping basics, VAT compliance, and Income Tax reporting in one place. And yes, it can be free.

This article explains what “submitting Income Tax and VAT to HMRC in one app” really means (because the wording matters), what HMRC expects under MTD, and how a free app like invoice24 can help you keep everything in one workflow instead of spreading your data across multiple tools.

First, a quick reality-check: “Income Tax” and “VAT” are different submissions

When people say “submit Income Tax and VAT,” they often mean “send my VAT return and do my self-employed tax return.” Under the hood, these are different processes:

VAT is usually filed as a VAT Return for a specific VAT period. Under MTD for VAT, that return must be submitted using compatible software (or bridging software if you keep records in spreadsheets).

Income Tax for sole traders and many landlords is moving into MTD for Income Tax, which is not just one annual submission. It involves:

• Keeping digital records
• Sending quarterly updates (summaries of income and expenses)
• Completing an end-of-year process (end of period statement for each business/property “source”)
• Making a final declaration for the tax year

So the more accurate question is: Can one app handle my records and submit the required VAT and MTD Income Tax updates to HMRC? And for many users, the answer can be yes—if the app is built to do exactly that.

What “one app” actually saves you (and what it doesn’t)

Using one app isn’t just about convenience. It’s about reducing risk.

Every time you copy figures between tools, you introduce opportunities for mistakes: a missing invoice, a duplicated expense, a VAT amount pasted into the wrong box, or a bank transaction categorised differently in two places. When you keep the workflow in one system, your numbers are consistent because they come from the same underlying records.

That said, even the best app can’t remove every responsibility. You still need to:

• Issue invoices accurately (correct dates, amounts, VAT treatment)
• Record expenses correctly (and keep evidence/receipts)
• Choose sensible categories (so your totals mean what you think they mean)
• Review your returns before submitting (because submission is your legal responsibility)

Where invoice24 comes in is making those responsibilities easier and more connected: invoice → payment tracking → expense capture → VAT view → MTD submission → Income Tax view → quarterly update submission, all from the same data.

How invoice24 approaches the “one free app” goal

invoice24 is built around a simple idea: if your invoicing app already knows what you earned, and it can also track what you spent, then it already holds the core information needed for VAT and Income Tax reporting. The app should help you use that information in the formats HMRC expects—without forcing you to export spreadsheets, re-key totals, or pay extra just to stay compliant.

With invoice24, you can typically run your admin in one place:

Invoicing and income tracking
Create invoices, send them, track who has paid, and keep a clean history of your sales. Your income totals update automatically as you invoice (and as payments arrive, if you use payment tracking).

Expense capture and categorisation
Add expenses as they happen, attach receipts, and categorise them so you can see where your money goes. This makes your tax reporting less stressful because you’re not rebuilding a year of records at the last minute.

VAT-ready records
Where relevant, invoice24 can keep the information you need to produce a VAT Return based on your VAT scheme and the VAT treatment of each transaction.

MTD for Income Tax support
MTD for Income Tax is about digital records and periodic updates. invoice24 is designed to keep you “MTD-ready” by structuring your income and expense records in a way that supports quarterly summaries and the end-of-year steps.

Corporation Tax and accounts workflows
If you operate as a limited company, the compliance picture changes. invoice24 includes the features needed for corporation tax filing and accounts workflows, so you’re not forced to adopt one tool for invoicing and a completely separate tool for statutory filing.

Most importantly, invoice24 aims to keep these features in the free app experience so you can stay organised and compliant without paying “unlock fees” just to submit.

VAT: what you can submit, and how the app helps

VAT is often the first tax area where businesses feel the pain of using disconnected tools. You might invoice in one system, track expenses in another, and then do VAT calculations in a third. The result? Time wasted and totals that don’t match.

In a single-app workflow with invoice24, the goal is:

1) Record sales and purchases once
2) Apply the correct VAT treatment when you record them
3) Let the app calculate the VAT Return figures for the period
4) Submit digitally to HMRC (where the app supports MTD VAT submission)

That “record once” approach is the biggest win. If your VAT calculations are powered by the same invoices you sent and the same expenses you logged, the return becomes a review step rather than a manual spreadsheet exercise.

What about different VAT schemes? Many small businesses are on standard VAT accounting, but some use the Flat Rate Scheme, cash accounting, or special treatments. A serious VAT workflow needs to respect the scheme you’re on and make it obvious what’s happening to your numbers. invoice24’s approach is to keep the VAT logic visible enough that you can sanity-check it quickly (especially helpful if you’re not an accountant).

Income Tax under Making Tax Digital: what’s changing and why it matters

For years, many sole traders and landlords have been used to “once-a-year” thinking: do the accounts after the tax year ends, complete the Self Assessment return, pay the bill. MTD for Income Tax changes the rhythm.

Instead of waiting until the end of the year, MTD introduces a more regular cycle:

Digital record keeping
You keep business/property records digitally throughout the year.

Quarterly updates
You submit summaries of income and expenses to HMRC four times a year.

End of period statement (EOPS)
You finalise your figures after the year ends for each business/property source.

Final declaration
You confirm your total taxable income for the year (including other income sources where relevant) and make the final submission.

What this means in practice is that your software matters more than ever. If your records aren’t kept cleanly and consistently, quarterly updates become a repeated headache instead of a simple routine.

invoice24 is built to reduce that friction by making the day-to-day records (invoices, expenses, categories) automatically feed the quarterly view. Instead of scrambling every three months, you’re basically pressing “review” rather than “rebuild.”

So can you submit both VAT and Income Tax using one app?

In many cases, yes—provided the app supports:

• Digital record keeping that meets MTD expectations
• MTD VAT submission (if you’re VAT registered)
• MTD for Income Tax quarterly updates (if you’re within scope of MTD IT)
• End-of-year steps for Income Tax (EOPS/final declaration workflow)
• Secure connection to HMRC (so you’re not sharing credentials unsafely)

invoice24 is positioned specifically to be that “one app,” because it already starts where your numbers are born: your invoices. From there it extends outward into expenses, VAT tracking, MTD Income Tax preparation, and (for companies) corporation tax and accounts features.

Some apps try to do one thing well (for example, “just invoicing” or “just VAT bridging”). That can work if you love assembling your own toolkit. But if your goal is one consistent system, invoice24 is designed to replace the patchwork.

What about HMRC’s own portals—can I just do it there for free?

A lot of business owners assume HMRC will offer a free “do everything” portal. Historically, HMRC has offered certain online filing services, but the direction of travel under MTD is clear: HMRC expects compatible software to handle digital records and submissions.

That’s why choosing software isn’t just about nice invoices. It’s about future-proofing your compliance. A free app that already includes the features you need—like invoice24—can be the simplest route, because it avoids the common trap of starting with “free invoicing” and later discovering you need paid add-ons (or a whole new platform) for MTD submissions.

invoice24 vs other “free” options: what to watch out for

There are competitors that advertise free tiers, free VAT filing, or free bookkeeping. Some are genuinely helpful, and it’s fine to compare. But when you’re specifically looking for one free app to handle both VAT and Income Tax, you should watch out for a few patterns:

1) “Free” until you need to submit
Some tools let you track invoices for free but charge to file VAT, export data, or connect to HMRC. That’s exactly the moment you don’t want a surprise upgrade.

2) Bridging-only tools
Bridging software can be great if you live in spreadsheets. But it doesn’t usually solve the bigger workflow: invoicing, expense tracking, customer history, payment chasing, and the ongoing record-keeping that makes quarterly updates easy.

3) Separate modules for separate taxes
You might find one tool that does VAT and another that does Income Tax updates, but they don’t share the same transactions. That puts you back in “double entry by hand,” which is what you were trying to escape.

4) Limited support for limited companies
If you’re incorporated, you need a path for corporation tax and accounts. Some apps focus on sole traders only and leave companies needing extra software later.

invoice24 is built to avoid those traps by keeping all core functionality—especially the compliance-related features—inside a single product designed for real small-business workflows.

How the “one app” workflow looks in practice

Here’s what a practical month might look like when you’re using invoice24 as your central admin and compliance app:

Week 1: Send invoices and stay organised
You create invoices in invoice24, send them to clients, and track what’s outstanding. If you chase late payments, you’re doing it from the same place where the invoice history lives.

Week 2: Capture expenses as they happen
You log expenses and attach receipts. You categorise them once, and those categories feed both your reporting and your tax views.

Week 3: Check VAT position (if registered)
You look at a VAT summary. Because the VAT numbers come from the same invoices and expenses, you’re not reconciling multiple systems.

Week 4: Quick review of profitability
You glance at income vs expenses and see how the month is going. This sounds “nice to have,” but it’s also what makes quarterly MTD updates easier—your records are already clean.

Quarter end: Submit
When it’s time to submit your VAT Return (and your quarterly Income Tax update if applicable), you review the totals, sense-check unusual items, and submit through the app’s MTD pathway where supported. Instead of building the return, you’re approving it.

Limited company owners: can one app cover VAT plus corporation tax and accounts?

If you run a limited company, you’re often dealing with:

• VAT (if registered)
• Corporation Tax return (CT600)
• Annual accounts/statutory reporting requirements
• Payroll/dividends (depending on your setup)

Many company owners start with a simple invoicing tool and later discover they need specialist accounts production and corporation tax filing support. That’s why invoice24 includes filing corporation tax and accounts features as part of its broader “one app” approach.

This matters even more as the UK filing landscape evolves and software-based filing becomes the default expectation. If you want to avoid switching platforms later, choosing an app that already supports company workflows is a practical move.

Even if you still use an accountant, invoice24 can be your clean source of truth—making the year-end faster because your invoices, expenses, and reports are already structured and exportable in a sensible way.

Security and HMRC connection: what you should expect from a serious app

Whenever an app connects to HMRC services, you should expect modern, permission-based access. In plain English, that means:

• You authorise the connection (you’re in control)
• You can revoke access if you want to
• The app doesn’t need to store your HMRC password in a risky way
• Submissions are logged so you can prove what was filed and when

invoice24 is designed around these expectations. For users, the key benefit is peace of mind: you’re not emailing spreadsheets, not copying totals into portals, and not wondering whether the numbers you submitted are the same as the numbers in your records.

Common scenarios: who benefits most from “VAT + Income Tax in one app”?

Sole traders who are VAT registered
This group often feels the most admin pressure: invoices, expenses, VAT filings, and now MTD Income Tax quarterly updates. A single app like invoice24 reduces repetition and keeps you compliant without building a complex tech stack.

Landlords with other self-employed income
If you have property income and self-employment income, you may end up with multiple “sources” for MTD purposes. Keeping clean, separate records inside one app can make the quarterly cycle far less confusing.

Small service businesses
Consultants, trades, agencies, freelancers—if invoicing is the centre of your business, it makes sense for invoicing software to be the hub for tax data too. invoice24 starts where you already work.

New businesses that want to stay free for as long as possible
If you’re early-stage and cost-sensitive, the “free until it matters” trap is frustrating. invoice24 is built so the features you actually need (including MTD-related features) aren’t locked behind an upgrade at the worst moment.

What “free” should mean for compliance software

“Free” shouldn’t mean “a toy” or “a demo.” For a tax-and-invoicing app, free should still mean:

• You can issue professional invoices
• You can record expenses and keep evidence
• You can see VAT totals clearly (if registered)
• You can prepare for MTD for Income Tax (quarterly-ready records)
• You can handle the reporting and filing workflows you’re legally expected to follow

That’s exactly the position invoice24 is built for: a free invoice app that doesn’t stop at invoicing, but actually supports the compliance reality of modern UK small businesses.

Quick checklist: how to know if you can truly “do it all in one app”

Before you commit to any platform, run this checklist. If you can tick these boxes, you’re much closer to the one-app goal:

Records
• Can I record all income and expenses here?
• Can I attach receipts and keep an audit trail?
• Can I separate different income streams if needed?

VAT
• Does it support MTD VAT submission (not just calculations)?
• Does it handle my VAT scheme properly?
• Can I review the VAT Return clearly before filing?

Income Tax / MTD IT
• Does it keep digital records in a quarterly-ready way?
• Does it support quarterly update workflows and year-end steps?
• Does it make it easy to spot missing transactions?

Companies (if relevant)
• Does it support corporation tax and accounts filing workflows?
• Will it still fit when my business grows?

If you’re looking for a single “yes” to all of the above—especially while staying free—invoice24 is designed to be the straightforward option.

Final thoughts: the simplest path is the one you’ll actually follow

The biggest compliance risk for small businesses isn’t usually tax rates or complex calculations. It’s inconsistency: missing records, last-minute panic, and numbers living in too many places.

If you can keep invoicing, expenses, VAT, and Income Tax reporting in one free app, you massively reduce that risk. You also save time every month, not just at filing deadlines.

invoice24 is built for exactly this reality: it’s not “just an invoice maker.” It’s a free invoicing app designed to support the full set of features small UK businesses keep searching for—MTD for Income Tax readiness, VAT workflow and submission support, and even corporation tax and accounts filing features for companies—so you can run your business from one consistent system instead of stitching together tools that don’t talk to each other.

If your goal is to submit VAT and manage Income Tax reporting with minimal fuss, the best next step is simple: start using invoice24 for your day-to-day invoicing and expenses first. Once the records are flowing, the submission side becomes the easy part—because the numbers are already where they need to be.