Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: am I in scope, and when?
Enter your qualifying income to see which phase you fall in, the return HMRC judges it on, and your first quarterly deadline. Rules as at 2026/27.
Last updated
Check your Making Tax Digital date
Use turnover, not profit: add up what your customers paid and the rent you received, before any expenses. Leave out wages, pensions, dividends and partnership income. Pre-filled with £35,000.
Your Making Tax Digital date
You are in Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027.
HMRC decides this phase on your 2025/26 tax return: qualifying income over £30,000 that year puts you in. The answer assumes your income was at this level then.
How HMRC decides your phase
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax phases in by qualifying income. Each phase looks at one Self Assessment return, two years before it starts, and only income over the threshold counts:
| Phase starts | Qualifying income | Judged on | First quarterly update | First final declaration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 April 2026 | Over £50,000 | 2024/25 return | 7 August 2026 | 31 January 2028 |
| 6 April 2027 | Over £30,000 | 2025/26 return | 7 August 2027 | 31 January 2029 |
| 6 April 2028 | Over £20,000 | 2026/27 return | 7 August 2028 | 31 January 2030 |
| No date set | £20,000 or less | - | - | - |
If your income has moved around, check each return against its own phase. Someone with £45,000 in 2024/25 was not in the April 2026 phase, but £45,000 in 2025/26 puts them in from April 2027.
What has to change once you are in
- Digital records. Record each business income and expense digitally as it happens, in software or a spreadsheet, rather than totting up paper at the end of the year.
- Recognised software. Use software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: HMRC's software finder lists the products it recognises, some of them free. A spreadsheet works if you add bridging software to send the figures.
- Quarterly updates. Send a summary of your income and expenses to HMRC every three months, due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. They are not tax returns and you pay nothing with them.
- Final declaration. By 31 January after the tax year, confirm your figures, add any other income and claim reliefs. It replaces the Self Assessment tax return; the payment dates stay 31 January and 31 July.
What counts as qualifying income
- Counts: gross self-employment income (your turnover) and gross property income (the rent), from the UK and abroad, before any expenses.
- Does not count: wages and other PAYE income, pensions, dividends, savings interest, and your share of partnership profits.
Turnover is what decides it, not profit. A sole trader with £34,000 of sales and £10,000 of costs has £24,000 of profit but £34,000 of qualifying income: in from April 2027, not 2028.
Exemptions and leaving
If you cannot use digital tools because of age, disability, where you live or your religion, you can apply to HMRC for an exemption, and HMRC's eligibility page lists the other groups who are exempt or whose start is put back. Once you are in, you can only stop after your qualifying income has been at or below the threshold for three tax years in a row, judged against the threshold in force each year (£20,000 from April 2028), so someone who joined over £50,000 and now earns £40,000 stays in.
Next: what goes in each quarterly update, and how to get ready in the six months before your start date.
Start the digital record with your invoices
Making Tax Digital wants every sale recorded digitally as it happens. Invoicing through this site gives you that for your income: each invoice numbered and dated, each payment logged, with a running estimate of the tax on it. It is not MTD software and does not send anything to HMRC; your MTD software or accountant still does that.
- Clean, numbered invoices in about a minute, with a PDF at the end.
- Every invoice and the date it was paid in one place, ready to enter in your MTD software each quarter.
- A live set-aside figure for the income tax and National Insurance on what you have been paid.
No password and no card. Enter your email, click the link we send, and you are in.
Frequently asked questions
What is qualifying income for Making Tax Digital?
Your gross income from self-employment plus your gross income from property, before any expenses are taken off. Wages, pensions, dividends, savings interest and your share of a partnership do not count. If you have two businesses, or a business and a rental, add their turnover together.
Do I need Making Tax Digital if I earn £30,000?
If your qualifying income in the 2025/26 tax year was over £30,000, yes: you join on 6 April 2027 and your first quarterly update is due on 7 August 2027. Exactly £30,000 is not over the threshold, so it would put you in the April 2028 phase instead.
Does Making Tax Digital apply to landlords?
Yes. Rental income counts towards qualifying income on the same basis as self-employment income: the gross rent, before expenses. If you own a property jointly, count your share of the rent.
I earn under £20,000. Do I need Making Tax Digital?
Not on any date announced so far. The lowest threshold set is over £20,000, from April 2028. You keep filing a Self Assessment return as now, and you can sign up voluntarily if you want to.
How does HMRC know I am in scope?
From the Self Assessment return two years before each phase: the 2024/25 return for April 2026, the 2025/26 return for April 2027, the 2026/27 return for April 2028. HMRC writes to people it expects to be in scope, but the duty to sign up is yours whether or not a letter arrives.
Can I stop using Making Tax Digital if my income falls?
Yes, once your qualifying income has been at or below the threshold for three tax years in a row. That is the threshold in force in each of those years, not the one you joined on: £20,000 from April 2028. Until then you stay in, even in a quieter year.
Tools sole traders use
Accounting software that keeps your records ready for Self Assessment and Making Tax Digital.
- Xero - Online accounting with bank feeds and invoicing, widely used by UK accountants.
- QuickBooks - Bookkeeping and invoicing software with features for sole traders.
- Sage Accounting - UK accounting software for invoices, expenses and VAT returns.
Affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you.
Sources
Making Tax Digital guides
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax explained: what it is, who it covers and the 2026, 2027 and 2028 timeline.
- MTD quarterly updates: the 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May deadlines and what each update contains.
- Preparing for Making Tax Digital: a month-by-month plan for the six months before your phase, including the free software options.
- Self Assessment deadlines 2026/27: every filing and payment date, which MTD does not move.
- Payments on account calculator: what you pay on 31 January and 31 July, under MTD or not.