Sign up your client for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
If you're an agent, use the online service to sign up your client for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
If you’re not an agent, there’s a different way to sign up as an individual for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
Your client is required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026 if their total annual income from self-employment and property is over £50,000.
Before you submit your client’s tax return using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you’ll need to include other sources of income and gains in their compatible software.
When to sign up
If your client is required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026, you should sign them up before that date so you are both prepared.
HMRC will check that your client is eligible to sign up based on the details that you provide.
You or your client still need to submit their Self Assessment tax return for the tax year before your client starts using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
To sign up your client for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, they must:
- be registered for Self Assessment
- have submitted a tax return in the last 2 years
If your client is signing up voluntarily
Your client can sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax before they’re required to use it to help you both get ready.
For example, they may be required to use it from 6 April 2027, but they can sign up and volunteer:
- now, for the current tax year (2025 to 2026) — you or your client will need to use software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax to send any missed quarterly updates for the year so far
- from 6 April 2026, for the next tax year (2026 to 2027)
Before you sign up your client
Check if your client may be exempt from using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. If your client is exempt, they will not have to sign up.
You should read the step by step guidance, if you have not already done so, to make sure you and your client:
- understand if they need to use the service
- understand how to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (such as creating digital records, sending quarterly updates and submitting your tax return)
- have software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — always check with the software provider to make sure their software will meet your and your client’s needs
Getting your client authorisation for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
You need to get your client’s permission to sign them up. You also need to complete the following steps.
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Create an agent services account if you do not have one. Your agent services account is different to your HMRC online services for agents account.
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Get your client to authorise you for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. What you need to do depends on if you are already authorised by your client for Self Assessment.
If you are already authorised by your client for Self Assessment
Your existing client authorisations for Self Assessment are recognised for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
If you’re already authorised for Self Assessment you can check if the authorisation has been added into your agent services account. If the authorisation is not in your agent services account, you need to add it.
Adding authorisations will not automatically sign up your client for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — you still need to sign up each of your clients separately through the online service.
Read more information about checking and adding your client authorisations for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
If you’re already authorised for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax through a digital handshake, you can sign up your client without having to manually add the authorisation into your agent services account.
If you’re not authorised by your client for Self Assessment
You’ll need to sign into your agent services account and follow the steps in your account to ask your client to authorise you.
Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
If your client is required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026, HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates for the first year (2026 to 2027). Penalties will still apply for late tax returns or if a tax bill is paid after the due date.
If your client is signing up voluntarily, make sure you and your client understand what penalties apply to volunteers for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. HMRC will contact your client to confirm when they’ve become liable for these penalties after they’ve signed up.
What you’ll need
In the sign up service, you should tell HMRC about your client’s active sole trader and property income.
You’ll need their:
- full name
- date of birth
- National Insurance number
If your client is a sole trader, you’ll also need:
- their business name — this is the name they use on their invoices
- their business address
- the nature of their business (their trade)
If your client has multiple self-employment income sources or property businesses, you’ll need to check each one in the online service and add any that are missing.
For each of your client’s income sources, you’ll need:
- their business start date or the date they started receiving property income (if this is within the last 2 tax years)
- to confirm the tax year your client will start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
How to sign up your client
You’ll need to use the same user ID and password you got when you registered for an agent services account.
Online services may be slow during busy times. Check if there are any problems with this service.
Updates to this page
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Guidance has been updated to make clear who needs to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from April 2026 and what they need to sign up. It has also been updated to confirm that anyone signing up must be registered for Self Assessment and have submitted a tax return in the last 2 years. Information about penalties has been updated. Information about exemptions and how to get client authorisations for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been added.
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Information about what Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is has been updated.
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The 'Who cannot sign up voluntarily' section has been updated to remove those who have income from a furnished holiday let.
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Steps about what you need to do before you have signed up your client in the system have been added. Information about what you need to do to make sure you are authorised for Self Assessment and Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in your agent services account has been added. Information about when penalties do and do not apply during the testing phase has been clarified.
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The list of who cannot voluntarily sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been updated.
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Information added to confirm that you need to sign up each income source for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if your client has multiple sources of income. Information added about what you need to do if your client has already authorised you for Self Assessment in your HMRC online services for agents account.
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Information for users who want to voluntarily sign up now has been updated as you can now use the sign up service instead of a software provider. Information about who can and cannot sign up voluntarily has been updated.
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Welsh translation added.
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The date for helping to test and develop Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been extended to 6 April 2026.
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The steps to take and what you will need before using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax have been updated. You can check if you can voluntarily sign up your client now.
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Information on what you'll need and before you sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been updated.
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Information on what to do after you've signed up your client has been updated.
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A Welsh translation has been added.
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Information in the 'Before you start' section has been updated with what you need to do before you can sign up a client for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
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Information has been updated under 'before you start' to advise ways your client can authorise you through your agent service account.
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Welsh translation has been added.
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First published.