Starling Bank says sole traders are increasingly using AI tools for tax and accounting guidance, as the first phase of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax begins and time-poor operators look for faster answers to routine compliance questions.
In Starling’s survey of 1,000 sole traders, 26% said they had used an AI platform for guidance on HMRC’s new Making Tax Digital requirements, while one in five said they regularly use AI for tax and accounting support. The research also suggests that speed matters more than cost in many cases. Some 39% said quick access to information was the main reason they turned to AI, ahead of the 32% who cited the cost of professional advice. In parallel, 88% said they trust advice from AI to some degree, and 55% expect to rely on it more over the year ahead.
The timing is important. From 6 April 2026, sole traders and landlords with qualifying income above £50,000 must use compatible software for digital record-keeping and quarterly reporting to HMRC. Business Quarter reported in March that Starling had already moved early with an HMRC-recognised tool, betting that tax reporting would increasingly sit inside day-to-day banking and bookkeeping workflows rather than in disconnected year-end processes.
Daniel Hogan, Director of Business Tools at Starling, said: “These findings are a call to action for all those who work with sole traders, showing that we need to find faster and more convenient ways to deliver the support they need. At Starling, we’re committed to playing our part with digital tools that help sole traders blast through their admin, leaving them more time to grow their businesses and to manage complex issues with their professional advisers.”
The picture that emerges is less about replacing accountants and more about reshaping the first layer of support. Many respondents said they use AI for lower-level financial tasks while still relying on human advisers for more complicated or higher-stakes issues. In around a quarter of cases, sole traders are also using AI as a second opinion on advice they have already received, suggesting that trust is growing, but not without limits.
That distinction is clear in the user response included with the launch. Dr Emily Durling, a clinical psychologist and Starling customer, said: “AI platforms are not usually where I’d get tax information from, but they were useful for searching about the Making Tax Digital changes. It may be helpful in future for low-level research, but for more serious advice I’ll stick with the experts.
“It’s great that Starling has created a free HMRC-recognised Making Tax Digital tool for sole traders like me. It’s taken a weight off my mind.”
Starling is pairing that shift in behaviour with product expansion. Its accounting package includes a free HMRC-recognised MTD tool for Income Tax, transaction categorisation, and real-time views of business finances. As quarterly reporting becomes a live compliance process rather than an annual scramble, software providers and banks alike are competing to become the default operating layer for sole traders.
More details are available via Starling’s Making Tax Digital page.
