Does Making Tax Digital for VAT apply to overseas-owned companies?

VAT records must be kept in digital form and submitted through MTD-compatible software; spreadsheets are allowed only when linked to bridging software rather than manually retyped into HMRC's portal. Overseas bookkeepers or accountants working remotely can maintain this just as a UK-based one would.

Cloud accounting software such as Xero or QuickBooks works identically wherever the user is logged in from, so there is no practical barrier to running MTD-compliant bookkeeping from abroad.

The common failure is not MTD itself but the underlying records: bank statements, invoices and receipts scattered across personal accounts and messaging apps rather than a single system, because the owner is managing the business informally from abroad.

Setting up a dedicated business bank feed into the accounting software from day one avoids the year-end scramble to reconstruct records that were never centralised.

Our fixed monthly packages for a UK limited company start at £89 plus VAT and run to £169 and £289 plus VAT as bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and reporting are added. One-off filings are sold at fixed prices, and the Companies House fees we pay for you are charged at cost with no VAT added. Overseas owners are quoted on exactly the same published prices as UK-resident clients.

Rates, thresholds and deadlines here reflect the 2026/27 UK position and current Companies House and HMRC guidance. Check GOV.UK, or ask us, before relying on them for your own company.