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Appointing Multiple Agents

1 May, 2025

Members preparing clients for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) from April 2026 and who are considering entering the testing phase, will want to be aware that a new service has been launched by HMRC which allows taxpayers to appoint more than one agent to act for them.  

The new functionality allows taxpayers to appoint both a main agent and/or one or more supporting agents to assist with their MTD obligations. For example, a bookkeeper completing quarterly returns might be appointed as a supporting agent, while the tax adviser who is responsible for finalising the year end position would be appointed as a main agent. 

A main agent will be able to fully manage their client’s affairs for MTD, while a supporting agent will have more limited access to client data and be able to complete fewer tasks.  

Currently the service is only relevant to those in the MTD testing phase, but for those planning the transition to MTD from April 2026, it may be helpful to be aware of the new options that this provides taxpayers and their agents.   

HMRC believes that introducing multiple agent capability will give more flexibility to taxpayers, help agents to support their clients, and avoid the need to complete multiple reauthorisations where more than one agent is going to be involved.  

More information about the multiple agents solution is available on GOV.UK and in the ‘agents’ section of our MTD Frequently Asked Questions. 

The ATT has helped to feed into the development of this new functionality and any feedback or comments would be welcome to [email protected].