Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Check if you need to use this service to report your self-employment and property income, and find out more about exemptions for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
Who will need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
You’ll need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if all of the following apply:
- you’re a sole trader or a landlord registered for Self Assessment
- you get income from self-employment or property, or both
- your qualifying income is more than £20,000 — read more about what qualifying income is and what is included
When you need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax depends on your qualifying income within a tax year. If your qualifying income is over:
- £50,000 for the 2024 to 2025 tax year, you will need to use it from 6 April 2026
- £30,000 for the 2025 to 2026 tax year, you will need to use it from 6 April 2027
- £20,000 for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, the government has set out plans to introduce legislation to lower the qualifying income threshold
Business partnerships will also need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in the future. We’ll set out the timeline for this at a later date.
You do not need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax until after you have submitted your first Self Assessment tax return, but you can choose to sign up early.
Who is exempt from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
If you are exempt, you will not have to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax but you must continue to report your income and gains in a Self Assessment tax return.
Types of exemption
There are 2 types of exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax:
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permanent — this means you’re not required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax unless your circumstances change
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temporary — this means you’re not required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax before the 2027 to 2028 tax year, at the earliest
These exemptions may be:
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automatic — you do not need to apply as HMRC gives these exemptions based on information it already has
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exemptions you must apply for — when you apply to HMRC you may need to provide supporting evidence
Permanent exemptions for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Permanent exemptions are mostly automatic and apply unless your circumstances change. You will need to apply for an exemption if you think you are digitally excluded.
If you’re digitally excluded
Being digitally excluded from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax means it’s not reasonable for you to use compatible software to:
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keep digital records for quarterly updates
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send quarterly updates or submit your tax return
If you think you’re digitally excluded, find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income tax.
If your qualifying income is £20,000 or less
You do not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if your qualifying income is £20,000 or less.
Automatic exemptions
You’re automatically exempt and cannot sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if you:
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do not have a National Insurance number
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are submitting a tax return as a trustee, including a charitable trustee or a trustee of non-registered pension schemes
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are submitting an Income Tax return on behalf of a non-resident company
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are a Lloyd’s member and do not have self-employment or property income
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are submitting any tax return as a personal representative of a taxpayer who has died
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are submitting a tax return on behalf of a taxpayer because you either:
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have an enduring power of attorney or lasting power of attorney to act on their behalf because they’re not physically or mentally capable of filling in a tax return
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are appointed by a UK court to act on their behalf because they lack mental capacity
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Temporary exemptions for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
You may need to apply for a temporary exemption.
You cannot apply for these exemptions yet. We’ll publish guidance soon on how to apply when the process opens.
Temporary exemptions until April 2027
If one of these exemptions applies, you will need to sign up and use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2027 if your qualifying income is above £30,000.
You are automatically exempt until April 2027 if your 2024 to 2025 tax return showed that you either:
- claimed averaging relief
- claimed qualifying care relief (such as a foster carer, adult placement carers, kinship carers or staying put carers)
- received income from trusts or estates
You will need to apply for an exemption until April 2027 if your 2024 to 2025 tax return did not show this, but you expect your 2026 to 2027 tax return to do so.
If you are a non-UK resident foreign entertainer or sportsperson, you will need to apply for an exemption until April 2027, even if you included this income in your 2024 to 2025 tax return.
Other reasons for temporary exemption until April 2027
You are also eligible for an exemption until April 2027 if you:
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included the SA109 supplementary page in your 2024 to 2025 tax return and you think it’s likely you’ll include it again for the 2026 to 2027 tax year — if this is the case you are automatically exempt
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did not include the SA109 supplementary page in your 2024 to 2025 tax return but you expect to include it for the 2026 to 2027 tax year — if this is the case you will need to apply for an exemption
Reasons you would need to include an SA109 supplementary page in your 2026 to 2027 tax return are if you’re either:
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non-resident in the UK in that tax year (including those entitled to claim personal allowances because of the terms of a Double Taxation Agreement)
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resident in the UK in that tax year and you’re:
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a tax resident in another country
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eligible for overseas workday relief and you expect to make a claim or election
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eligible for split year treatment and you expect this to apply
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eligible to use the temporary repatriation facility and expect to make an election
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eligible for the foreign income and gains regime and expect to make a claim
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a former remittance basis user who expects to make a claim for business investment relief
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Temporary exemptions that will apply beyond April 2027
If one of these exemptions applies to you, you will need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in the future. We’ll set out the timeline for this at a later date.
You are automatically exempt if you submitted your 2024 to 2025 tax return as either:
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an employed Minister of religion of any faith, religion or denomination
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a recipient of the Married Couple’s Allowance (for those born before 6 April 1935)
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a recipient of the Blind Person’s Allowance
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a Lloyd’s member with self-employment or property income
You will need to apply for an exemption if this was not the case for your 2024 to 2025 tax return, but you expect it to be for your 2026 to 2027 tax return.
Check if you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will become mandatory in phases, starting from 6 April 2026.
Use our tool to check if you need to use the service and when you need to start. You can also use this tool on behalf of someone else.
You should not use this tool if you think you’re eligible for an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
If you used the SA109 supplementary page for your 2024 to 2025 tax return and expect to use it for your next tax return, you will not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax before April 2027.
Before you start
You’ll need to consider the following for tax years ending 5 April 2025 and 5 April 2026:
- if you’ll need to send a Self Assessment tax return and which sources of income you’ll need to declare
- how much self-employed or property income you’ll receive in the tax year
What to do if you need to use the service
If you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you should prepare and be signed up for the service before you need to use it. For example, you will need to choose and authorise your chosen software or decide how your agent will act for you, if you have one.
You can find more information about what you need to do to prepare and sign up if:
What will happen before the start of the tax year
HMRC will review your Self Assessment tax return and check your qualifying income each tax year.
If your income is above the relevant threshold HMRC will write to you, confirming that you need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax by the start of the upcoming tax year.
For example, if we review your return and find your qualifying income for the 2024 to 2025 tax year is over £50,000, we’ll write to you and confirm that you need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax by 6 April 2026.
If you do not receive a letter, it is still your responsibility to check if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and make sure you are signed up and prepared to use it when you need to.
If you think you need to sign up because your qualifying income is over a certain amount, but you’ve not received a letter, you should:
- use the tool in this guidance to check if and when you need to sign up
- speak to your tax agent, if you have one
- check this with a relative or a friend, if they help you with your tax
Updates to this page
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The guidance now includes further details on permanent and temporary exemptions for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. It explains which exemptions are automatic and which you need to apply for.
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Information about who is exempt from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been added.
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The guidance has been updated to confirm if you have qualifying income over £20,000 you will need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and that the government is introducing legislation to confirm when you will need to start using the service from. The information about who does not need to use the service has been moved up the page. Information about what to do before you start using the service has been updated to link to our step by step guidance and to tell you what should happen before the start of the tax year.
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Guidance has been updated to confirm the tool will not ask about foreign income and that you can use the tool on behalf of someone else. Guidance about if you need to use the service from 6 April 2027 has been updated to confirm what will happen ahead of 6 April 2027.
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The Autumn Budget 2024 announced that Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will be extended to sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £20,000 by the end of this Parliament.
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Information about when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been added. A link to an interactive guidance tool to check if you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been added. Guidance about what is included in your qualifying income has been removed from this page.
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Information added to confirm how HMRC assess your qualifying income for a tax year and how we assess your qualifying income if you jointly own a property and only receive notice of your share of the income after expenses have been deducted.
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Information about who will and who will not need to sign up has been updated.
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The guidance has been updated to clarify when you will need to sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and when you will not need to.
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Thresholds for meeting the requirements for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax have been added for April 2026 and April 2027.
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Information has been added for you to check if you can use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Additional information has been added for what is included in your qualifying income, how you should report other income and how residence and domicile affect your qualifying income.
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You only need to follow the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax rules for your UK self-employment and property income if you're resident or domiciled outside the UK.
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Added translation
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First published.