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Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for small and medium-sized businesses, has launched a new integrated campaign supporting the rollout of Making Tax Digital (MTD), which requires eligible sole traders and landlords to keep digital tax records and submit quarterly updates to HMRC from August 2026.

The campaign, created and produced by The Story Club (TSC), launches nationwide on 20th July.

The campaign follows a carpenter going to increasingly amusing lengths to put off the looming MTD deadline, before discovering how simple it can be to submit his quarterly update using Sage Sole Trader - over the phone, tea in hand.

At the heart of the campaign is a simple human truth: when faced with a new obligation or deadline, many people put it off. With the first Making Tax Digital submission deadline approaching, Sage wanted to create work that acknowledges that behaviour with humour and understanding, while showing sole traders that getting started can be simpler than they might think.

Sage – MTD Deadline

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The campaign is part of Sage's work with The Story Club, and its wider commitment to making life easier for sole traders and small businesses at a pivotal moment of regulatory change.

Rich Moloney, Senior Director, Brand Strategy & Creative at Sage, said: "Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is a major change for sole traders and landlords, and because it feels daunting, many people understandably keep putting it off. We built the campaign around that instinct. Rather than just reminding people about the deadline, we wanted to show that getting started can be simpler than they might think.”

Miles Nathan, Founder of The Story Club, said: "We are immensely proud of this new campaign for Sage. It's a tricky brief, and as a small company ourselves, we feel the heat of imminent tax and paperwork deadlines all the time! So to be able to create something charming and relatable with our new friends at Sage, and get the balance right of warm, human storytelling we can all see ourselves in, is a lovely thing to help craft with them."

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