ERROR: 'Failed to retrieve businesses'

How to resolve this error when you set up Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax in Sage 50 Accounts v33.1 and above.

During the setup process for MTD for Income Tax, you can see the following error:

'Failed to retrieve businesses. Failed to retrieve the list of businesses from HMRC'.

The system can’t find a business that matches the National Insurance or business details you entered. Or, the information entered is incorrect.

When you press 'Details', you can see this further error message: 'The client or agent is not authorised'.

Check your details

1. Press OK on the message then you'll see further information on the Find your business window.

2. Check the reasons in the We could not find your business section.
3. Press Continue then re‑enter the National Insurance number and business information and try again.
4. If the details are correct, check that you're registered for MTD for Income Tax.
   If you haven't registered, you’ll need to complete registration before you can continue onboarding.

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If the issue persists

If you’ve followed the steps above, and still can’t continue onboarding:

1. Double‑check all entered details.
2. Try again later if there’s temporary service issues.
3. Contact Sage support if the error persists and prevents onboarding.