Tax summary

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax means sending HMRC a quarterly update of your income and expenses. It started in April 2026 for sole traders earning over £50,000, and from April 2027 it covers anyone over £30,000. The Tax summary adds up your figures for each update, so they're ready when you need them.

Open it

• On the home screen, tap Put aside for tax under Money.
• Or tap More > Tax summary. On a computer, it's in the menu on the left.

What you see

Quarters. Each tax year has four quarters, and every update is due by the 7th of the month after it ends:

Kev opens on the next update that's due. Tap any quarter to see it. Each quarter is marked In progress, Ready to send or Deadline passed. Kev can't see whether you've already sent an update, so Deadline passed is just a reminder.

Your figures. Each update covers the tax year so far, from 6 April, so that's what the big numbers show:

• Income: invoices you've marked paid, on the day you marked them paid, and the gross on any CIS statements you've added.
• Expenses: confirmed expenses, plus your business mileage at HMRC rates.
• Profit (or Loss): income minus expenses.

Underneath, your expenses are split into HMRC's categories, the same ones as your Self Assessment. Mileage goes under Car, van and travel expenses.

How much tax to put aside

Under your quarters, Put aside for tax gives a rough idea of your next tax bill. It works out Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance on your profit so far this tax year, and shows what share of your profit that is. Moving that share of each payment into a savings account means January's bill won't be a shock. The home screen shows the same figure under Money.

It's a guide, not a bill. It assumes:

• the profit in Kev is all your income (no other job, pension or rent)
• you're not paying a student loan or claiming anything else, like pension payments or Gift Aid.

Your bill for a tax year is due by 31 January the year after it ends. If it's over £1,000, HMRC usually asks for half of next year's bill up front too (a payment on account), so the first one can be bigger.

CIS subcontractor? The CIS your contractors take off has already gone to HMRC, so Kev takes it off what you need to put aside. If it's more than the tax on your profit, the card says roughly how much you should get back after your tax return. See Your CIS refund below. The download for your accountant has a CIS taken off by contractors line too.

Live in Scotland? Tick I live in Scotland on the card. Kev then uses Scottish Income Tax rates, which are different from the rest of the UK. National Insurance is the same everywhere. Kev remembers your choice.

Everyone gets the estimate. With Pro you can also see it for earlier years.

Your CIS refund

If a contractor takes CIS off your pay, they should give you a payment and deduction statement every month they pay you. Add each one to Kev and it keeps a running total of what should come back.

1. Open Tax, then tap CIS refund.
2. Tap Add a statement.
3. Type in the contractor, the payment date, the gross paid (before CIS, without VAT), any materials, and the CIS taken off. Kev tells you if the CIS works out at 20% or 30% of the labour, so you can spot a typo.
4. Tap Save statement.

The big number at the top shows roughly how much you should get back (or still owe) once you file your tax return. The more of your expenses and mileage you add, the bigger it usually gets, because they bring your profit down. The home screen shows it too.

If you've also sent CIS invoices from Kev for the same work, only keep one of them, or Kev counts the money twice. Kev warns you if you have both.

Keep the paper statements: HMRC can ask to see them.

Not signed up yet, or want a quick guess for a mate? The free CIS refund calculator works it out from a normal week's pay, the weeks you've worked, your costs and your miles, with no account needed. If you sign up from there, Kev takes you straight to your CIS refund page.

With Kev Pro you can tap Snap the statement and Kev reads the figures from a photo or PDF for you (this uses the same 300 a month as receipt reading). Check them, then save. The photo isn't kept. Pro also gives you a Year-end CIS pack: every statement and the totals by contractor, ready to send your accountant.

Things to check

• Mileage and fuel together. If you claim mileage at HMRC rates for a vehicle, you can't also claim its fuel or running costs. Kev warns you when it sees both, so you can check with your accountant.
• VAT. If you're VAT registered, add your VAT number in More > Invoices. Kev then leaves VAT out of the figures. If you're not, the figures include the VAT you paid, which is how HMRC wants them.
• Other income. Only invoices marked paid in Kev count. Add any other income in your MTD software.
• Other currencies. Invoices and expenses that aren't in pounds are left out, and Kev tells you how many.

Sending your update

Kev doesn't send updates to HMRC yet. Copy the figures into your MTD software, or give them to your accountant.

With Kev Pro, tap Download for your accountant to get a spreadsheet with every quarter and the year's totals. Pro also lets you look back at your last three tax years. On Free, you see this tax year on screen.