HMRC Login for Making Tax Digital: A Complete Guide to Connecting Your Software
Your HMRC login is the key that lets Making Tax Digital software send your quarterly updates. You sign in on HMRC's own page, approve the software once, and the connection then runs in the background until it lapses or you remove it.
Published 4 November 2026 · Updated 4 November 2026
Your HMRC login does more under Making Tax Digital (MTD) than open your tax account. It is the key that lets your software send quarterly updates to HMRC on your behalf. You sign in once on HMRC's own page, approve the software, and the link then works in the background until it lapses or you remove it.
This guide is for self-employed private hire and app-based drivers who are joining MTD for Income Tax. It explains the grant authority step, signing up, what happens when authority runs out, the move from Government Gateway to GOV.UK One Login, and how to let an accountant act for you without ever sharing a password. If you cannot get into your account at all, start with our HMRC login guide for drivers and come back once you can sign in.
Key takeaways
- Connecting MTD software means signing in on an HMRC page and clicking grant authority. The software never needs your password.
- You must be signed up for MTD for Income Tax before most software can complete the connection.
- HMRC's developer documentation says software authority lasts 18 months unless you revoke it, so plan to reconnect.
- Most existing users still sign in with Government Gateway; One Login is being phased in, starting with new customers.
- Never share your HMRC login with an accountant. Authorise them as your agent through HMRC's own link instead.
What is an HMRC login for Making Tax Digital?
An HMRC login for Making Tax Digital is the same sign-in you use for Self Assessment, used for a second job: approving software. You enter it on HMRC's page, HMRC confirms who you are, then issues the software a limited permission to send and read your Income Tax data.
The sign-in itself is either a Government Gateway user ID and password or, for newer customers, a GOV.UK One Login. The permission it creates is separate from your password. That separation is the whole point: you can withdraw the permission at any time without changing how you sign in.
Why does Making Tax Digital need your HMRC login at all?
Under MTD for Income Tax, you no longer type figures into an HMRC web form. Software sends them for you, through a secure connection called an API. HMRC needs proof that you, the taxpayer, agreed to let that software act. Signing in with your HMRC login and approving the request is that proof.
According to HMRC's guidance on signing up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you must use MTD from 6 April 2026 if your qualifying income from self-employment and property is above £50,000. Qualifying income means turnover before expenses, taken from your earlier tax return. The threshold drops to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. For a full-time driver, gross fares can pass these levels sooner than profit suggests, which is why many drivers meet the software connection step for the first time in 2026/27.
If you want the wider picture of quarterly updates and digital records before tackling the login side, read our Making Tax Digital FAQ for drivers.
How does granting authority to MTD software work?
You start inside your software, which sends you to an HMRC sign-in page. You log in, pass 2-step verification and sometimes an identity check, then approve what the software is asking to do. HMRC sends you back to the software, which now holds a permission token rather than your password.
HMRC's developer documentation on user-restricted access describes the same sequence from the software side. Here is how it looks from the driver's seat.
- Sign up for MTD for Income Tax first, or confirm HMRC has signed you up. Most software checks this before it will connect.
- Open your software's MTD or HMRC connection settings. You may be asked for your National Insurance number so it can match your record.
- Select the option to connect or authorise with HMRC. Check the browser address bar shows a tax.service.gov.uk or gov.uk address before typing anything.
- Sign in with the HMRC login linked to your Self Assessment, not an old business or employer account.
- Enter the 2-step verification code sent to your phone or authenticator app, and complete any identity check HMRC asks for.
- Read the screen that lists what the software wants to do, such as viewing obligations and sending updates, then select grant authority.
- Return to the software and confirm it now shows your business details and quarterly deadlines. Note the date you connected.
What the approval screen is actually asking
The approval screen names the software and lists the areas it wants, for example reading your Income Tax obligations and sending updates. HMRC calls each area a scope. You are not giving the software access to your whole tax account, your National Insurance record or your State Pension forecast. Those stay behind your login, which is covered in our guide to what you can do in your HMRC online account.
Should you sign up for MTD for Income Tax before connecting software?
Yes, in most cases sign up first. GOV.UK says sign-up happens through HMRC's online service using the same user ID and password you got when you registered for Self Assessment. Once HMRC records you as an MTD customer, your software can find your quarterly obligations when you grant it authority.
GOV.UK also says you must be registered for Self Assessment and have filed a return in the last two years to use the sign-up service. If you are newer than that, register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the tax year you started driving and file online by 31 January, as HMRC's guidance sets out. Our first tax return guide for new drivers walks through that stage.
Before you sign up, have these ready:
- Your HMRC login and access to the phone or app used for 2-step verification.
- Your passport or driving licence, because GOV.UK says identity checks now use a phone app to read them and the question-based route has been removed.
- The date you started driving and your trading name, if you use one.
- Details of any other self-employment or property income, as each source has to be listed separately.
How long does software authority last, and what happens when it expires?
HMRC's developer documentation says the authority you grant lasts for 18 months unless you revoke it or the token is tampered with. When it runs out, the software can no longer send or fetch data. You fix this by repeating the grant authority step with your HMRC login.
Behind the scenes, the software holds a short-lived access token that it renews automatically, and a longer-lived renewal token. The documentation says the renewal token stops working after 18 months, and the software then has to send you back through the full sign-in. That is a technical rule for software developers, so check HMRC's current developer guidance if your software gives you a different date.
For a driver, the practical risk is timing. If the connection lapses a few days before a quarterly deadline and you only notice on deadline day, you are racing the clock. Put a calendar reminder about 17 months after each connection date, and reconnect on a quiet day rather than mid-shift.
How do you check or remove software you have authorised?
HMRC runs a service called manage authorised applications, reached through your HMRC sign-in at tax.service.gov.uk. It lists the software you have approved and lets you revoke any of them. HMRC's developer documentation points users there and confirms access can be withdrawn at any time.
Review the list whenever you change software, finish a free trial or stop using a bookkeeping app. Old connections are not harmful in themselves, but a tidy list makes it obvious which product is sending your updates. If you find a product you do not recognise, revoke it and change your password.
Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login: which one connects your software?
For most existing drivers, Government Gateway still connects your software. HMRC's February 2026 announcement said only new customers without Gateway details were moving to GOV.UK One Login. Existing users keep their Gateway user ID until HMRC contacts them, and should then use whichever login HMRC asks for.
HMRC's guidance on accessing HMRC online services using GOV.UK One Login, last updated in February 2026 when we checked, says One Login will replace other sign-in routes over time but gives no date for retiring Government Gateway. The HMRC news release on One Login for new customers adds that anyone with a One Login for another government service should keep using Government Gateway for HMRC for now.
What this means for software is simple. The grant authority screen accepts whichever HMRC sign-in your account currently uses. If HMRC later moves you to One Login, an existing software permission may or may not need renewing, and HMRC has not published detail on this that we could find. Treat any migration prompt as a reason to check your software connection the same week.
Why should you never share your HMRC login with an accountant?
Because HMRC forbids it, and it removes your protection. GOV.UK says clients must not give sign-in credentials to an agent and agents must not use them. A shared login also means anything submitted appears to come from you personally, with no record that someone else acted for you.
The approved route for MTD for Income Tax is what HMRC calls the digital handshake. According to HMRC's guidance on authorising an agent, your agent emails you a link, you sign in with your own login, and you approve them. The link expires after 21 days, after which the agent must send a new one. You stay responsible for your tax affairs, and you can remove the agent from your tax account at any time.
Once you have authorised an agent, they connect their own software to your MTD record through their agent services account. You do not need to grant authority to their software with your login. That is often simpler for drivers who would rather not touch the technical side at all.
Software authority, agent authority and a shared login compared
| Route | Who signs in | What it allows | How it ends | Allowed by HMRC? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granting authority to your own software | You, on HMRC's page | That software reads obligations and sends your updates | Lapses after 18 months per HMRC developer guidance, or when you revoke it | Yes |
| Authorising an agent (digital handshake) | You accept the agent's link; the agent uses their own account | The agent acts for you on the authorised service | When you or the agent remove the authorisation | Yes |
| Giving someone your HMRC login | The other person, pretending to be you | Everything in your account, with no audit trail of who acted | Only when you change your password | No: GOV.UK says not to share sign-in details |
HMRC login troubleshooting: a decision table for MTD connections
Most connection problems fall into a handful of patterns. Find the symptom you see, then work through the first check before you contact anyone. Software providers handle connection faults; HMRC handles your account and identity.
| What you see | Likely cause | First thing to try | Who to contact if it persists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software says you are not signed up for MTD | Sign-up not done yet, or done under a different record | Sign up through the GOV.UK service, then reconnect | HMRC |
| Sign-in works but grant authority fails | Wrong user ID, such as an old business account | Sign out fully and connect again with your Self Assessment login | Software provider |
| Connection worked last year, now updates will not send | Authority has lapsed after about 18 months | Repeat the grant authority step from inside the software | Software provider |
| Asked to prove identity and the check fails | Document scan or photo match not accepted | Retry the app check with a valid passport or driving licence | HMRC |
| No longer receive 2-step verification codes | Changed phone number or lost device | Use a backup method if you set one up, otherwise recover access | HMRC |
| Shown a One Login option but have a Gateway ID | HMRC's sign-in screen offers both routes | Keep using Government Gateway unless HMRC has asked you to move | HMRC |
| Your accountant cannot see your MTD record | Agent link not accepted, or it expired after 21 days | Ask for a fresh link and accept it with your own login | Your accountant |
If the problem is really about recovering a lost user ID or password, the HMRC login guide linked in our introduction covers recovery in detail, and those steps apply anywhere in the UK.
Illustrative example: a driver connects, lapses and reconnects
This is an illustrative example with an invented driver and our own figures. Tomasz is a self-employed private hire driver. His 2024/25 tax return showed gross fares of £54,200, before the app operator's service fee and his running costs. Because qualifying income is turnover before expenses, he is above the £50,000 threshold and must use MTD for Income Tax from 6 April 2026.
He signs up through GOV.UK in March 2026 with his Government Gateway login. On 20 April 2026 he grants authority to his chosen software. It pulls in his quarterly obligations, and he starts entering fares, fuel and his business mileage log each week.
His records show 31,000 business miles across 2026/27. Using HMRC's simplified mileage rates for 2026/27, that is 10,000 miles at 55p (£5,500) plus 21,000 miles at 25p (£5,250), a £10,750 claim. The software calculates this from his log, and our mileage calculator gives the same answer as a check. None of this reaches HMRC unless the software connection is live.
Counting 18 months from 20 April 2026 puts the likely end of his authority around 20 October 2027. Tomasz sets a reminder for mid-September 2027, reconnects on a day off, and confirms his next quarter shows correctly. Had he ignored it, his next update would have failed to send until he signed in again.
What are the most common HMRC login mistakes with MTD software, and what do they trigger?
The common mistakes are connecting before signing up, using the wrong account, letting authority lapse unnoticed, and sharing a login. Each one can delay a quarterly update or a tax return. GOV.UK says late return and late payment penalties still apply in 2026/27, even though penalty points for late updates do not for newly required users.
- Typing your HMRC password into a form inside the software. Genuine connections always send you to an HMRC page. Risk: your login could be captured, and you may need HMRC's help to secure the account.
- Connecting with an old employer or business user ID. Risk: the software sees no MTD record, updates fail and a quarter slips.
- Forgetting that authority lapses. Risk: an update or the final return goes in late; late filing and late payment penalties can follow on the return.
- Giving your login to an accountant or a friend. Risk: you breach GOV.UK's instruction and lose any record of who submitted what.
- Ignoring a migration prompt from HMRC. Risk: you cannot sign in when you need to reconnect software close to a deadline.
- Assuming HMRC's automatic sign-up connects software. Risk: no updates are sent at all, because HMRC cannot pick software for you.
Good records make every one of these easier to recover from. Our guide to keeping a mileage log and bookkeeping records explains what HMRC expects you to keep.
Key terms
- MTD (Making Tax Digital): HMRC's system requiring digital records and software submissions for Income Tax and VAT.
- Grant authority: the HMRC screen where you approve a software product to act on your MTD record.
- Scope: one area of access a software product asks for, such as reading obligations or sending updates.
- Government Gateway: HMRC's long-standing sign-in, using a user ID and password.
- GOV.UK One Login: the newer cross-government sign-in, using an email address and password.
- Digital handshake: HMRC's online process for authorising an agent, started by a link the agent sends you.
- Qualifying income: your self-employment and property turnover before expenses, used to decide whether MTD applies.
- Compatible software: a product that can connect to HMRC's systems for MTD; HMRC lists options on GOV.UK.
To compare products, HMRC publishes a list of software compatible with MTD for Income Tax. Our guide to Self Assessment software and MTD explains what to look for as a driver.
How UK Driver Accountants helps
We work only with drivers, on fixed fees from £20 a month, and we are independent of any ride-hailing app. Through our Making Tax Digital service, we check whether you need to join, help you sign up, set you up as our client through the digital handshake, and send your quarterly updates from our own agent account. You keep control of your login, and we never ask for it.
If HMRC has already written to you about a missed update or a locked account, our HMRC support service can deal with them on your behalf. You can see what each plan includes on our pricing page.
Conclusion
Your HMRC login is the gatekeeper for Making Tax Digital. Use it on HMRC's page to approve software, keep a note of when you did it, and expect to repeat the step roughly every 18 months. Keep using Government Gateway until HMRC asks you to move, and never share your login, even with someone you trust. If you would rather an agent handled the connection and the quarterly updates, contact our team and we will explain the next steps.
Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the UK Driver Accountants tax team
This article is general information and not personal tax advice. Rules and HMRC systems change, so check GOV.UK and speak to a qualified accountant about your own situation. If you are facing an HMRC dispute or penalty, we recommend professional representation.
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