From 6 April 2027, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax extends to sole traders and landlords whose qualifying income was over £30,000 on their 2025/26 Self Assessment return. HMRC's statistics, based on 2023/24 returns, put the number of people with qualifying income between £30,000 and £50,000 at about 1,077,000: roughly 798,000 sole traders, 182,000 landlords and 97,000 people with both.
This guide covers who is in, how the test works, what changes from April 2027, and what to do between now and then.
Who is affected from April 2027
You join from 6 April 2027 if all of these apply:
- you are registered for Self Assessment and have self-employment income, property income or both;
- your qualifying income on your 2025/26 return is more than £30,000;
- you were not already required to join in April 2026 (because your 2024/25 qualifying income was over £50,000); and
- you are not exempt.
HMRC reviews each return and writes to people who are over the threshold, but its guidance says it is still your responsibility to check whether you need to sign up, letter or not.
What counts as qualifying income
Qualifying income is your total income from self-employment and property before expenses. The test is turnover, not profit. A sole trader who turns over £35,000 and spends £20,000 has £15,000 of profit but £35,000 of qualifying income, and is in. A landlord with £32,000 of rent and £18,000 of costs is in too.
What goes in:
- self-employment turnover, from all your trades added together;
- gross rent from UK property, and from foreign property if you were UK resident;
- your share only of jointly owned property.
What stays out: PAYE salary, pensions, dividends, savings interest and your share of a partnership's profit. Someone earning £80,000 in a job with £25,000 of self-employment income has qualifying income of £25,000, and is not in from April 2027. The full list, with less common cases such as trusts and part-year businesses, is in our qualifying income guide.
Joint landlords
Jointly owned property counts at your share. A married couple who let a flat for £40,000 a year are normally taxed 50/50, so each has £20,000 of qualifying income from it. If one of them also has £15,000 of self-employment turnover, that person has £35,000 and joins in April 2027, while the other does not. Spouses can only use an unequal split if they own the property and are entitled to the income unequally and have told HMRC on Form 17. See MTD for jointly owned property.
Partnerships
Your share of profit from a partnership does not count towards qualifying income, and partnerships themselves do not have to use Making Tax Digital yet; HMRC has not set a date. You still include your partnership share on your tax return. If a partnership tells you about personal self-employment or property income that is yours, that does count.
What changes for you from April 2027
- Digital records of your self-employment and property income and expenses, kept in compatible software from 6 April 2027.
- Quarterly updates by 7 August 2027, 7 November 2027, 7 February 2028 and 7 May 2028. Each covers the tax year so far.
- Your 2027/28 tax return through the software, by 31 January 2029.
- Your 2026/27 return is still sent the old way, by 31 January 2028.
- Payment dates do not change. Tax is still due on 31 January, with payments on account on 31 January and 31 July if they apply.
HMRC's current guidance has no separate end of period statement for each business: after the fourth update you make any year-end adjustments and then submit the tax return.
Penalties: no first-year concession
The 2026/27 tax year had a concession: HMRC did not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates. That was tied to the 2026/27 tax year, so it does not help anyone joining in April 2027. From 2027/28, according to HMRC's penalties guidance:
- each missed quarterly deadline and each missed tax return deadline earns a penalty point, one per deadline;
- reaching the points threshold triggers a financial penalty, and each further missed deadline another;
- late payment interest runs from the first day a payment is late, and late payment penalties follow if it stays unpaid, although in your first year of the new penalties you get 30 days to pay or arrange a payment plan before they start.
More detail is in our MTD penalties guide.
What to do before April 2027
Now: work out your figure
- Add up your self-employment turnover and your share of rent for 2025/26, before expenses. If it is over £30,000, plan on joining in April 2027.
- If you are close to the line, remember the test is "more than £30,000", and it is based on what your return shows.
- Our MTD checker asks the same questions.
By 31 January 2027: send your 2025/26 return
This is the return HMRC uses to decide whether you are in. Send it the normal way.
Early 2027: choose software and sign up
- Check any software covers all your income sources, works with your accounting period and can add other income to your tax return.
- Pick software recognised by HMRC. HMRC's software finder lists products that have been through its process, with free and paid options.
- Sign up before 6 April 2027 and authorise your software.
From 6 April 2027: keep records as you go
Connect your bank feed or set a weekly habit so each quarter's records are complete before its deadline. The first update, due 7 August 2027, covers 6 April to 5 July 2027.
Should you start early?
You can sign up voluntarily for the current tax year or the next one. As a volunteer, late quarterly updates do not earn penalty points, but a late tax return does. Using software for your records before you have to is lower risk still: you get used to the routine without any change in what HMRC expects of you.
Common mistakes
- Checking profit instead of turnover. Many people below £30,000 of profit are well over £30,000 of qualifying income.
- Counting salary. PAYE income is left out of the test entirely.
- Using the wrong year. April 2027 is decided by the 2025/26 return, not 2024/25.
- Assuming there is a first-year grace period. There is not for quarterly updates in 2027/28.
- Forgetting foreign property. Overseas rent counts towards the threshold if you were UK resident, and is its own business with its own updates.
Where VoxaMTD fits
VoxaMTD sends quarterly updates for self-employment and UK property income and submits the tax return, directly to HMRC's live Making Tax Digital service. Filing is free. It uses the standard update periods and does not yet send foreign property updates, so check it covers your income before you choose it. It is not yet listed on HMRC's published software finder.
This guide is general information based on HMRC's published guidance as at 27 September 2026. It is not tax advice. Check GOV.UK or speak to a tax adviser about your own circumstances.