Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
HMRC has signed me up for Making Tax Digital. What now?
The letter is real, it is not a mistake, and you are not being singled out. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been mandatory since 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, and from September 2026 HMRC started enrolling people who met that test on their 2024/25 return and had not signed up themselves.
In practice it means one thing: from the 2026/27 tax year you send HMRC four short updates during the year instead of one return after it. The next one covers 6 Jul – 5 Oct 2026 and is due 7 November 2026 — 57 days away.
Start by confirming what actually applies to you
The threshold test is on gross income, not profit, and the year you come into the regime depends on which return HMRC assessed. Our checker works it out from your figures — no account, no email, nothing to pay.
Check my MTD deadlines →Your 2026/27 deadlines
Each quarterly update covers a three-month period and is due on the 7th of the following month. The final declaration replaces the Self Assessment return for this year.
| Update | Period covered | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Q1Passed | 6 Apr – 5 Jul 2026 | 7 August 2026 |
| Q2Next | 6 Jul – 5 Oct 2026 | 7 November 2026 |
| Q3 | 6 Oct – 5 Jan 2027 | 7 February 2027 |
| Q4 | 6 Jan – 5 Apr 2027 | 7 May 2027 |
| Final declaration | Whole 2026/27 year | 31 January 2028 |
Put these deadlines in your calendar
A free subscription covering the next three years of MTD quarterly updates, final declarations and Self Assessment dates. Reminders one week and one day before each. No account, no email address.
Or paste this into your calendar app: https://easytax.vip/calendar/uk-tax-deadlines.ics
The expensive misunderstanding: qualifying income is not profit
Qualifying income is gross self-employment turnover plus gross rental income, before expenses. A landlord with two properties bringing in £30,000 each has £60,000 of qualifying income whatever the mortgage interest and agent fees come to. Plenty of people reading the £50,000 figure as profit have concluded the rules do not apply to them, and the letter is HMRC disagreeing.
Questions people are asking this month
Why has HMRC signed me up for Making Tax Digital without asking?
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been mandatory since 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000. It is a legal requirement rather than a service you opt into, so HMRC does not need your agreement to enrol you. From September 2026 HMRC began signing up people whose 2024/25 Self Assessment return showed qualifying income above that threshold and who had not signed themselves up.
Can I opt out?
Not if you are over the threshold and none of the exemptions apply. There are exemptions — for example where it is not reasonably practicable for you to use digital tools because of age, disability, location or religious belief — and they are applied for through HMRC, not through your software. If you believe you are under the threshold or have stopped trading, that is a different conversation with HMRC, and worth having quickly rather than ignoring the letter.
What is "qualifying income"? Is it my profit?
No — and this is the single most common misunderstanding. Qualifying income is your gross turnover from self-employment plus your gross rental income, before expenses. Someone with £58,000 of turnover and £20,000 of costs has £38,000 of profit and £58,000 of qualifying income, and is in the regime.
Does this replace my Self Assessment return?
Not for the year you have just filed. Your 2025/26 return is unaffected and is still due by 31 January 2027. From 2026/27 onwards you send four quarterly updates during the year and then a final declaration, which replaces the old return for that year.
What happens if I ignore it?
Late quarterly updates attract penalty points under HMRC's points-based system, and a financial penalty once you reach the threshold for your filing frequency. The practical risk is bigger than the first penalty though: quarterly updates need digital records kept as you go, so the cost of starting late is reconstructing several months of bookkeeping under time pressure.
Do I need to buy software?
You need software that can send quarterly updates to HMRC — spreadsheets alone cannot, though bridging software can carry a spreadsheet into the API. Our free deadline checker will tell you what you are working to before you pay anyone anything, including us.
HMRC's own guidance: Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Where EasyTax fits — honestly
- Working today, free, no account: the deadline checker, the penalty calculator and the subscribable deadline calendar above.
- Not yet: sending your quarterly updates to HMRC. Our production access is still with HMRC for approval, and we will not pretend otherwise.
Tell me when filing opens
You are in the regime now and we cannot file for you yet. Leave your email and we will tell you the day HMRC approves us — nothing else, unsubscribe in one click. If that is after 7 November 2026, file that update elsewhere and do not wait for us.
More on what we do and do not claim: how we handle your data and your HMRC connection · the full MTD timetable · what MTD-compatible software has to do