Can I still use spreadsheets for MTD ITSA?

What HMRC actually requires

Two things. First, keep a digital record of each income and expense item - the date, amount and category - for your self-employment and property income. GOV.UK You do not need to scan receipts or invoices; you only need the line items recorded in a digital format.

Second, those records must reach HMRC through a digital link. The figures must not be manually re-typed or re-keyed along the way. A spreadsheet that feeds bridging software meets both requirements.

What counts as a digital link

A digital link is a transfer of data between programs that happens electronically, with no one re-typing the figures in between. HMRC accepts all of these: GOV.UK

• Linked cells in a spreadsheet - for example, a formula in one sheet that mirrors a value in another.
• Importing and exporting CSV or XML files, and uploading or downloading files.
• Emailing a spreadsheet of digital records so it can be imported into other software.
• Saving digital records to a memory stick and handing them to someone who imports them.
• Automated data transfer, and transfer between products over an API.
• Uploading your spreadsheet to bridging software that reads it directly.

This list is not exhaustive - the test is simply whether the data moves electronically without manual re-entry.

What breaks the digital link

The line HMRC draws is the manual step. These do not count as digital links:

• Copy and paste, or cut and paste, to move figures between programs.
• Re-typing or writing down figures from one place and entering them into another by hand - for example, noting a total from an invoice and keying it into another system.

How Aligned bridges your spreadsheet to HMRC

Aligned is bridging software for MTD for Income Tax. Upload the spreadsheet you already use. Smart Map suggests how each column maps to the HMRC submission categories, you confirm or adjust, and the figures flow through to HMRC's MTD service. The spreadsheet stays the source of truth, and nothing is re-typed by hand, so the digital link holds.

HMRC permits more than one compatible product working together, GOV.UK so you can keep your existing record-keeping and add Aligned for the submission step alone.

Who this matters for

If you are a sole trader tracking self-employment income in a spreadsheet, or a landlord with rental income in a spreadsheet, bridging software is the route that lets you keep what you have.

Related reading: the MTD deadlines you will file against, how qualifying income decides whether you are in scope, and an honest look at free MTD software.