Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is a new way for sole traders and landlords to do Self Assessment. If you are in scope, you keep your records in compatible software, send HMRC a short summary of your income and expenses every quarter, and submit your tax return through the same software at the end of the year. It started on 6 April 2026 for people with qualifying income over £50,000, and extends to more people in April 2027 and April 2028.
Who needs to use it, and when
You need to use Making Tax Digital if you are registered for Self Assessment, you have self-employment income, property income or both, and your qualifying income is over the threshold on the return HMRC checks:
| Qualifying income on your… | is more than… | you start on |
|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 return | £50,000 | 6 April 2026 |
| 2025/26 return | £30,000 | 6 April 2027 |
| 2026/27 return | £20,000 | 6 April 2028 |
HMRC's statistics, based on 2023/24 returns, put about 864,000 people over £50,000, 1,077,000 between £30,000 and £50,000, and 975,000 between £20,000 and £30,000: around 2.9 million in all, out of 7 million people with self-employment or property income. By 12 August 2026 HMRC said over 570,000 had signed up and more than 436,000 had sent their first quarterly update. From September 2026 it has been signing up people who should be using it and have not.
What qualifying income means
Your self-employment turnover and your property income added together, before expenses. It is not profit, and it is not your total income. Salary, pensions, dividends and your share of a partnership's profit are left out. Jointly owned property counts at your share. So a sole trader with £35,000 of turnover and £20,000 of rent has £55,000 of qualifying income, even if their profit is much lower.
What you have to do
- Use compatible software. HMRC does not provide any. You can use one product for everything, or more than one if they work together.
- Keep digital records of your self-employment and property income and expenses: the amount, the date and the category, for each item.
- Send quarterly updates for each business. These are summaries of your category totals for the tax year so far, not tax returns and not bills.
- Submit your tax return through your software by 31 January, after any year-end adjustments and with your other income added.
What stays the same: you still send one tax return a year, and you still pay by 31 January, with payments on account on 31 January and 31 July if they apply to you.
The deadlines
For 2026/27, on the standard update periods:
| Period | Deadline |
|---|---|
| 6 April to 5 July 2026 | 7 August 2026 |
| 6 April to 5 October 2026 | 7 November 2026 |
| 6 April 2026 to 5 January 2027 | 7 February 2027 |
| 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 | 7 May 2027 |
| Tax return for 2026/27 | 31 January 2028 |
Each update covers the tax year so far. If your accounts run to 31 March you can choose calendar update periods instead, ending 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March, with the same deadlines; you must choose them before your first update of the year. More in our MTD deadlines guide.
Penalties
Late submission penalties are points based. For 2026/27, HMRC does not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates, but you must send all four before you can submit your tax return, and a late tax return earns a point. From 2027/28 each missed quarterly deadline earns a point too, and reaching the points threshold triggers a financial penalty. Paying late brings late payment interest and separate late payment penalties. See our MTD penalties guide and HMRC's penalties guidance.
Software
There are two kinds:
- Software that creates your records, from a bank feed, receipts or manual entry, and sends your updates and tax return.
- Bridging software, which connects to records you keep elsewhere, such as a spreadsheet, and sends the submissions.
Free and paid options exist. HMRC's software finder lets you filter by income source and accounting period. Before you choose, check the product covers every income source you have, sends the tax return as well as the updates, and can add any other income HMRC does not add for you. Our free MTD software comparison sets out the conditions on the free options.
Can you still use a spreadsheet?
Yes, with bridging software. The rule is about digital links: once a record exists, it must move between products digitally, for example through linked cells, a CSV import or an API, not by retyping or copying and pasting.
Exemptions
Qualifying income of £20,000 or less is automatically exempt. Some other groups are exempt automatically, and you can apply if you are digitally excluded, for example if your age, health or disability means you cannot use software. Being unfamiliar with software, or having few records, does not count. See HMRC's exemptions guidance.
First steps
- Work out your qualifying income for the year that matters to you. Our MTD checker can help.
- Choose software that covers all your income sources.
- Sign up for Making Tax Digital with HMRC using your Self Assessment sign-in details, then authorise your software.
- Keep records from the start of the tax year and send each update by its deadline. If you are already late for 2026/27, send the overdue update now; the next deadline is 7 November 2026.
Guides for your situation: landlords, sole traders with rental income, side hustles, jointly owned property.
Where VoxaMTD fits
VoxaMTD's free plan sends quarterly updates for self-employment and UK property income and submits the tax return, directly to HMRC's live Making Tax Digital service, with a bank feed through open banking, CSV and Excel uploads, AI categorisation and a basic tax estimate. It does not yet cover foreign property or calendar update periods. 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.