Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in 2026
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is the biggest change to how the self employed and landlords report their income in a generation. From 6 April 2026 it stops being optional for higher earners. If your income from self employment and property is over £50,000, you now have to keep digital records and send HMRC an update every quarter, on top of a year end return. Lower income levels follow in 2027 and 2028. This guide explains who is in, from when, and what you actually have to do, with a free checker to find your own start date.
First group starts
6 Apr 2026
First group is over
£50,000
Updates a year
4
Year end return by
31 Jan
The first question most people have is a simple one: does this apply to me yet? Add up your income from self employment and property below and the checker will tell you which group you are in and when you start.
Free checker
Do I need to sign up, and when?
Enter your income before expenses. The result updates as you type.
Your turnover before expenses.
Rent received before expenses.
Leave out wages, pensions and dividends. They do not count toward the threshold.
Enter your income above to see your start date.
This is a guide, not tax advice. HMRC works out your start date from the income on your Self Assessment returns and will usually write to you, so treat the result as an estimate.
What Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is
For years, a sole trader or landlord filed one Self Assessment return a year and that was the whole job. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax replaces that habit with three things: you keep your records digitally, you send HMRC a short update every three months, and you finish the year with a return through the same software. It is often shortened to MTD for Income Tax, or MTD for ITSA.
The important point is what it does not change. It does not change how much tax you pay, and it does not change when you pay it. Your tax is still due by 31 January, with payments on account on 31 January and 31 July if they apply to you. What changes is how, and how often, you report the figures.
This is the income tax version of a system you may already know. Making Tax Digital for VAT has applied to VAT registered businesses for several years. The income tax rollout uses the same idea of digital records and regular updates, but it is a separate scheme with its own dates.
Who has to use it, and when
The rollout is phased by income, starting with the highest earners. Your start date depends on your qualifying income for a particular tax year, checked against your Self Assessment return.
| Your qualifying income | You must use it from |
|---|---|
| Over £50,000 for the 2024 to 2025 tax year | 6 April 2026 |
| Over £30,000 for the 2025 to 2026 tax year | 6 April 2027 |
| Over £20,000 for the 2026 to 2027 tax year | 6 April 2028 |
| £20,000 or less | No date set yet |
Partnerships are not in scope yet, and HMRC has said it will set out a timeline for them later. From September 2026, HMRC has started signing people up automatically where their records show qualifying income over £50,000, so if you are in the first group you may get a letter rather than having to join yourself.
What counts as qualifying income
Qualifying income is your total income from self employment and property added together, measured before you take off any expenses. In other words it is your turnover, not your profit, taken from your latest tax return. If you have more than one trade or several rental properties, you add all of it up.
A worked example makes it clear. If you earn £27,000 from self employment and receive £25,000 in rent, your qualifying income is £52,000. That is over £50,000, so you are in the first group from 6 April 2026, even though your profit after costs may be much lower.
Some income does not count toward the threshold at all. Wages taxed through PAYE, dividends including those from your own company, the State Pension and private pensions, your share of a partnership profit, and bank interest are all left out of qualifying income. You still report them on your tax return, but they do not push you into Making Tax Digital.
What you have to do each year
Once you are in, the year has a clear shape. There are three moving parts.
- Keep digital records. Record your income and expenses as you go, using software that works with Making Tax Digital. A pile of receipts and a spreadsheet you retype at the end of the year will not meet the rules.
- Send four quarterly updates. Every three months you send HMRC a running total of your income and expenses. It is a set of totals, not a full return, and each update restates the year so far.
- File a year end return. After the fourth update you submit the final return through your software, adding any other income and claiming your reliefs, then confirm it. This replaces the old Self Assessment return.
The quarterly updates have fixed deadlines, always the seventh of the month after each quarter ends.
| Quarter covers up to | Update due by |
|---|---|
| 5 July | 7 August |
| 5 October | 7 November |
| 5 January | 7 February |
| 5 April | 7 May |
If those dates do not suit your bookkeeping, you can elect to use calendar quarters instead, ending on 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March. The deadlines stay the same. The year end return is then due by 31 January after the tax year, so your first full year under the rules, 2026 to 2027, is finalised by 31 January 2028.
Who is exempt
Not everyone with self employment or property income has to take part. Some exemptions apply automatically and some you have to apply for.
- Income of £20,000 or less. On the current timetable you are not required to join, so you carry on with Self Assessment as normal.
- No National Insurance number. If you do not have one before the start of the tax year, you are exempt automatically.
- Partnerships. They are not in scope yet, so a partnership return stays as it is for now.
- Digitally excluded. If age, a disability or health condition, your location with no internet, or religious grounds mean you cannot use the software, you can apply for an exemption. HMRC will not accept reasons such as preferring paper or being new to accounting software.
Trustees, personal representatives of someone who has died, and a few other groups are also covered. Being exempt does not remove your duty to report your income. It just means you keep filing the way you do now.
How to get ready
If you are in the first group the change has already started, so the useful thing is to get set up cleanly rather than scramble at the first deadline.
- Check if it applies, and when. Use the checker above to find your group and start date.
- Pick compatible software. Choose a package that works with Making Tax Digital, or ask your accountant which one they use. The free HMRC online return will not file the year end Making Tax Digital return.
- Start recording digitally now. Get your income and expenses into the software from the start of the tax year, so the quarterly updates are a quick export rather than a rebuild.
- Authorise the software and watch for HMRC. Connect the software to HMRC, and look out for a letter, since HMRC is now enrolling eligible people automatically.
Penalties, and how they link to VAT
Missing deadlines carries a cost. Late submissions work on a points system, where points build up until a threshold triggers a £200 penalty, and paying late brings penalties and interest. These follow the same lines as the VAT system, so if you have dealt with VAT penalties the shape will be familiar. There is a soft start for late quarterly updates in the first year, 2026 to 2027, but the year end return and the payment deadlines still apply.
The late payment penalties and interest for income tax mirror the VAT rules almost exactly. Our VAT late payment penalty and interest calculator shows how those charges build, and the same day 15, day 30 and daily interest pattern is a good guide to the income tax version.
Frequently asked questions
If you have income from self employment or property over £50,000, yes, from 6 April 2026. The threshold falls to over £30,000 from April 2027 and over £20,000 from April 2028. At £20,000 or less there is no date yet, so you stay on Self Assessment for now.
It is your total income from self employment and property added together, before expenses, taken from your latest tax return. Wages, pensions, dividends, partnership profit shares and bank interest do not count toward it, although you still report them on your return.
No. It changes how and how often you report, not the tax itself. Your income tax is still due by 31 January, with payments on account on 31 January and 31 July where they apply.
Four quarterly updates a year, plus a year end return. The updates are totals of your income and expenses, due on 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and the return finalises the year by 31 January.
Yes. You have to keep digital records and file through software that works with Making Tax Digital. HMRC’s free online Self Assessment service does not file the year end Making Tax Digital return, so you use commercial software or an accountant.
You can apply to HMRC to be treated as digitally excluded, for reasons such as age, a disability, no internet access at your location, or religious grounds. HMRC will not accept reasons like preferring paper or being unfamiliar with software.
No, it is a separate scheme. Making Tax Digital for VAT has applied to VAT registered businesses for several years and is about VAT returns. The income tax version is new, applies to self employment and property income, and has its own thresholds and dates.
Figures, dates and thresholds checked against gov.uk and HMRC guidance on Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, current for 2026. Start dates depend on the income reported on your Self Assessment returns. This page is general information, not tax advice. Confirm your own position with HMRC or an accountant.