My subscription

Further to our conversation can i please let you know that on the HMRC website Clearbooks is listed as dealing with UK property income???

Hi, I do not understand why it is any different from any other business? Is your MTD for SA also not compatible for my FHL business income?

Hi Alexandra,

Please refer to HMRC's guidance, as of April 2025, FHL income will be considered UK Property business. Unfortunately, Clear Books currently does not support VAT for Property income.

We do apologise for any inconvenience. Once you are logged in, if you click the ? at the top right > Send us a message and include your business name. We will be able to assist you in any refunds as our software is not suitable for your needs.

Tommy

My main in come is the Furnished holiday let (FHL) income. That is my main business and the reason that I set up the MTD for VAT

My self employment income is meagre (less than£ 8K per year) but as i am a sole trader all income added together is relevant for the purpose of VAT. Essentially I am the business so anything I earn (FHL, self employment) is added together to make an overall turnover that is getting close to £90K per year. I am not a landlord, I am a FHL business. What do you mean you dont support VAT registered for property. Surely its just the same as any business? Are you telling me that the subscription I am paying wont actually function for my needs?

Is this the correct place to be discussing this? Can I speak to someone as it is clear this is not straighforward and as I have mentioned above I get the feeling with Clearbooks that you are less than clear!

Hi Alexandra,

Can I confirm if you are VAT registered on your Property Income source? Unfortunately, we currently do not support VAT registered for Property.

Tommy

Hi Alexandra,

HMRC requires property income and self-employment income to be reported separately for MTD for Income Tax. Because of this, you will need two separate businesses in Clear Books: one on a Property plan and one on a Sole Trader plan. If you are VAT registered for your Sole Trader business, then you will require the Sole Trader VAT plan. For the Property business, you are welcome to use the Free plan, but will not have access to the Auto Bills scanning feature.

Since both your self-employment and rental income go into the same bank account, the bank link will naturally show all those transactions in both of your Clear Books businesses. To handle this correctly and ensure your accounts balance without duplicating your data, you should follow this process:

In the business where the transaction is relevant (for example, your Property business for a rental payment), you should explain the transaction as income or an expense as usual.

In the other business (for example, your Sole Trader business), that same transaction still needs to be accounted for so that your bank balance in Clear Books matches your actual bank statement. However, because it does not relate to that specific business, you should mark it as a personal transaction by clicking the person icon on the right hand side.

Tommy

So are you saying that I need two MTD for VAT accounts one for my property income and one for my self employment income? Would I have to pay twice for this?

I am still on the free plan for MTD for self assessment for both parts of my income but this means I don't get the ability to photograph receipts on those plans, though I do get it on the VAT plan?

As my income is the same on MTD for VAT and MTD for SA the bank link is the same on both accounts. Because my rental income has fees attached I have to manually amend each payment minusing the commission so that my turnover is correctly reflected. I am having to do this twice for each transaction....once on the MTD for VAT and once on the MTD for SA. Is this correct? It is extremely time consuming and double handling data. Surely there is a way around this by linking the MTD for VAT and MTD for SA?

Hi Alexandra,

Yes, the Sole Trader VAT plan is the most suitable plan for VAT registered business. Each business will require it's own separate subscription and you are more than welcome to stay on the Free plan for your smaller Sole Trader business and Property income source. At current, there is no way to mark an expense as paid from the mobile app, this is something that our Product team are looking to implement in the future.

We have a comprehensive library of resources to help you get the most out of your account. You can view all our guides here.

To get started and understand how to use your account effectively, we highly recommend reading our guide on the two bookkeeping processes.

Tommy

I was under the impression when I paid for MTD for VAT I also got the sole trader MTD income tax account enhanced for free. I didnt think they were in the free plan once i was paying £18 per month. Am I on the best plan for what i need please? I am a small business running a holiday let company. I have a small income from self employment and so I have voluntarily registered for VAT as I get close to the threshold with my turnover. I have not yet been given my VAT registration number but I intend to use the falt rate scheme. I do not have an accountant so I do it all myself. I do find that a lot of the software does not seem to relate to my type of business. I do not need to raise invoices for my property business and I find it very frustrating that when I add a receipt (for goods I have paid for) it does not show the receipt as paid??? I came to clearbooks because it seems to allow me to have a free service for MTD income tax but now I have gone to VAT as well I am wondering if Clearbooks is actually the right software for me. The lack of support, difficultly to use and lack of instructions make it seems less than great.