- Debuting at Accountex Manchester, the new MTD (Making Tax Digital) for Income Tax Agent transforms quarterly updates into a seamless workflow, reducing admin and ensuring compliance
- Enabled through new Sage Copilot capabilities landing in October, with full automation added ahead of the 2026 MTD deadline
- Part of Sage's growing network of AI Agents built on the Sage Platform, it marks the next stage in Sage's AI journey into Agentic AI
Sage (FTSE:SGE), the leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses, today announced the UK's first MTD for Income Tax Agent. Revealed at Accountex Manchester, the new AI-powered agent will transform the complexity of quarterly updates into a single, end-to-end workflow, giving accountants and their clients confidence that nothing has been missed.
Paving the way for full automation in time for the 2026 deadline, the first release of the MTD Agent is enabled through new Sage Copilot capabilities landing in October. These features help practices prepare for quarterly updates by organising client information, reducing manual admin and making it easier to stay on top of tasks.
From April 2026, self-employed individuals and landlords earning above £50,000 will be required to keep digital records and submit quarterly updates through compatible software. More than 4 million taxpayers are expected to come into scope as MTD expands over the following years. This marks a significant shift in how accountants and their clients manage tax obligations, creating added pressure on practices already stretched for capacity.
The MTD for Income Tax Agent will help relieve that burden by automatically segmenting clients based on complexity, setting up tasks and reminders, chasing documents, and flagging potential issues early. It helps accountancy practices to stay compliant with MTD, cut down on manual work, and free up more time to focus on client relationships and strategic support.
"With more people soon required to file under Making Tax Digital, practices are going to be under real pressure,"said Lee Coombes, Head of Accountancy and Tax, Lee Coombes Accountancy Digital. "Sage's MTD for Income Tax Agent takes a big part of that burden away by automating admin and flagging issues early. It means we can manage the extra demand without losing focus on the clients who need our advice most."
Built on Sage's trusted platform
Sage's investment in agentic AI builds on the strength of the Sage Platform, a foundation that delivers innovation faster and more securely than industry than ever before. With a consistent framework for integrating AI across products, new capabilities such as agents can be connected and deployed quickly without disrupting how accountants and small businesses already work.
AI Agents extend the success of Sage Copilot, already helping tens of thousands of customers automate tasks and surface insights. With trust and security built in from data handling to AI guardrails, every agent meets the highest standards of compliance and reliability. This gives businesses, accountants and bookkeepers more confidence and more time to focus on what matters most.
"The Sage Platform allows us to deliver products and services such as our agents faster, more securely, and with trust at the heart of everything," said Walid Abu-Hadba, Chief Product Officer, Sage. "By connecting agents across our products, we take away complexity and make innovation practical. This is how we help accountants and businesses stay compliant and focus on growth, while experiencing new capabilities faster, with less disruption to how they already work."
A growing network of AI Agents
The MTD for Income Tax Agent is just the start. Sage is building a connected network of agents that take on compliance, payroll, and cashflow tasks working together across our platform to simplify admin and keep businesses moving. From VAT to Payroll to Cashflow and much more, these agents will remove repetitive work, flag risks early, and give accountants and small businesses more time to focus on growth.
"We are moving beyond task automation to agents that anticipate needs and act proactively whilst keeping accountants in control," said Neal Watkins, EVP, Small Business and Accountants, Sage. "This is about reducing admin at scale, giving accountants and businesses the confidence and control to meet change head-on and focus on growth. By embedding agents across our platform, we're creating an ecosystem of trusted AI that will augment and transform how work gets done."
The MTD for Income Tax Agent is part of Sage's next step in AI, moving beyond task automation to a growing network of intelligent agents that anticipate needs, work proactively with configurable control, and reduce risk. Built to support accountants ahead of the 2026 MTD deadline, it will be available across Sage's MTD portfolio and from within Sage for Accountants in the UK.
Find out more about Sage Copilot here: https://www.sage.com/en-gb/sage-copilot/
About Sage
Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid Sized Businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.
Notes to Editors
What are AI Agents? When Sage talks about "Agents," it means intelligent digital helpers built into its software that take on specific, often repetitive, jobs for accountants and small businesses. Unlike traditional software features, which rely on the user to click through menus and complete each step, Agents are designed to work more like a trusted assistant. They don't just wait for instructions they can anticipate what needs to be done, organise information, send reminders, and flag potential issues before they become problems.
For example, Sage's new MTD for Income Tax Agent helps accountants deal with the upcoming Making Tax Digital changes by automatically preparing quarterly update workflows, segmenting clients by complexity, and chasing missing documents. Instead of spending hours on manual admin, accountants can focus on advising their clients and planning ahead.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250923241131/en/
Contacts:
Tilson Pinto
Axicom for Sage
tilson.pinto@axicom.com
