MTD for gig economy drivers and couriers
You drive for Uber, Bolt or Deliveroo, maybe all three, and get paid weekly by each of them. HMRC treats it as one self-employment. QuarterFile keeps the digital records MTD now requires and files your quarterly update (the summary of takings and costs HMRC now wants four times a year) from your bank statement. You just confirm the categories: payouts, fuel and all.
Filing starts once HMRC approves QuarterFile for live filing; you can check your MTD date and join the reminder list today.
An illustration of the QuarterFile dashboard showing the current quarter, Q3, running from 6 October 2026 to 5 January 2027, with a filing deadline of 7 February 2027. It shows confirmed income and expense totals, a checklist confirming the quarter is ready, and a single button to review and file. The figures shown are examples.
Gross income
Your income is the full fare or the fee per job
MTD works on gross income, your income before expenses. That is the full fare if the app takes a commission from it, and the commission is a business expense. It is the fee if the app pays you per job, as delivery apps do. Your driver statement shows which. Working from your bank balance alone can put you the wrong side of the threshold without knowing it.
How MTD works for gig driversSeveral apps, one business
MTD looks at your gross income (the total before expenses) across everything you drive for:
- Ride-hailing: Uber, Bolt, Free Now
- Food delivery: Deliveroo, Just Eat, Uber Eats
- Parcels and courier work: Amazon Flex, Evri
- Private hire and taxi fares taken direct
- Tips, incentives and referral bonuses
Mileage or actual costs: your choice, kept consistent
HMRC lets you claim vehicle costs either at the simplified mileage rate (45p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles, 25p after) or as actual running costs apportioned for business use. You pick one method per vehicle and stay with it while you use that vehicle. Your accountant can run both if you’re unsure.
Built for weekly payouts
Driving generates far more bank lines than most trades: weekly payouts from three apps, fuel two or three times a week. That’s exactly the job CSV import and suggested categories exist for, at £12.50 a quarter with the first one free. Or type the lines in yourself: QuarterFile Free does the same filings, forever.
See pricingDriver questions
What drivers ask first
I drive for three apps. Is that three businesses?
No. Driving and delivering is one self-employment however many apps pay you, so Uber, Bolt, Deliveroo and Amazon Flex payouts are added together into a single quarterly update, and your fuel, insurance, phone and vehicle costs are recorded once against that one business. Only genuinely different work, a rental property or a separate trade, is a second business with its own figures, and for the MTD threshold HMRC adds that income in too (HMRC, updated 11 September 2026).
Is my income the fare, or what the app pays into my bank?
The full fare if the app takes a commission from it, and the commission is a business expense. The fee if the app pays you per job, as delivery apps do. Your driver statement shows which. MTD measures your income before expenses (HMRC, updated 11 September 2026). Judging yourself by what lands in your bank can put you the wrong side of a threshold without you knowing. MTD for Income Tax applies when your gross self-employment and property income is more than £50,000 (from April 2026), more than £30,000 (from April 2027) or more than £20,000 (from April 2028).
Do tips, quests and referral bonuses count?
Yes. Tips paid through the app, cash tips, incentive and quest payments and referral bonuses are all part of your self-employed income for the quarter they’re earned in. They count towards the MTD threshold, which is your income before expenses (HMRC, updated 11 September 2026). The one thing that isn’t income is money that was never yours, such as a customer refund passing through your account, which you record as neither income nor expense.
Your week, your quarter
Three apps, one business.
Payouts on Monday, fuel on Thursday, an insurance renewal somewhere in the middle. Four times a year all of that becomes one summary for HMRC.
Deadlines, without the app
One email, 7 days before each quarterly deadline. No account, no software sign-up, nothing else ever.
We store your email address to send one reminder before each quarterly deadline, until you unsubscribe. Nothing else. How we handle your data.