Making Tax Digital for Income Tax - sign-up is open, who must join and when

Sign-up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is now open, and this is the biggest change to how self-employed people and landlords report to HMRC since Self Assessment began. If you have self-employment or property income, here is who must join and when - every figure below is verified against GOV.UK's guidance, updated 16 October 2026.

Who must join - the thresholds and dates:

• 6 April 2026 - sole traders and landlords whose qualifying income for 2024-25 was over £50,000;
• 6 April 2027 - those whose qualifying income for 2025-26 was over £30,000;
• 6 April 2028 - those whose qualifying income for 2026-27 was over £20,000.

Qualifying income means your total turnover from self-employment and property before expenses - not your profit. Add up both sources. Partnerships are not yet in scope.

What you will actually have to do:

• keep digital records of income and expenses - from 6 April 2026, or from 1 April 2026 if you align to a calendar month;
• send quarterly updates to HMRC through compatible software;
• file the tax return and pay by the usual 31 January deadline - that part doesn't change.

For the first year (2026-27), the quarterly update deadlines are 7 August 2026, 7 November 2026, 7 February 2027 and 7 May 2027, with the 2026-27 return and payment due by 31 January 2028.

How to sign up: sign up through HMRC's online service - you'll need MTD-compatible software to keep your records and send the updates, so pick software that covers Income Tax (GOV.UK has a find-a-software list).

Penalties: one reassuring point from the guidance - there are no penalty points for late quarterly updates in 2026-27. But the 31 January return and payment deadlines are unchanged, and interest and late-payment penalties still apply there, so don't let the quarterly updates lull you into filing the return late.

What to do now: check your 2024-25 qualifying income against the £50,000 threshold, choose and test compatible software, and start keeping digital records ahead of April. If you're close to a threshold, talk to your accountant before the start date - leaving it to the quarter's deadline is asking for trouble.