Do I need Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?

Written by the Quidtrail team · Facts last checked 18 October 2026

The short answer: you need MTD for Income Tax if you're a sole trader or landlord registered for Self Assessment and your qualifying income, meaning your combined self-employment and property turnover before expenses, is over £50,000 (start 6 April 2026), £30,000 (start 6 April 2027) or £20,000 (start 6 April 2028). Each threshold is checked against an earlier tax return (GOV.UK). Use the checker below for your own estimate.

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What you'll need

Have your Self Assessment tax returns, or your best estimates, for:

• 2024 to 2025, which decides the April 2026 start
• 2025 to 2026, which decides the April 2027 start
• 2026 to 2027, which decides the April 2028 start. This tax year isn't over yet, so use an estimate.

For each year, you'll enter your gross (before expenses) income from:

• self-employment: all your trades added together
• UK property: your share, if jointly owned
• foreign property, if you were UK resident

How the thresholds work

Source: GOV.UK.

"Over" means more than. Qualifying income of £20,000 or less is automatically exempt (GOV.UK).

What counts, and what doesn't

Counts (GOV.UK):

• self-employment turnover from all your trades
• rent and other property income, gross, and only your share of jointly owned property
• foreign property income, if you were UK tax resident
• income from a source that has stopped, as long as you still have another self-employment or property source

Doesn't count:

• PAYE salary
• your share of partnership profit as an individual partner
• dividends
• State Pension and private pensions
• qualifying care relief
• income from UK REITs or PAIFs
• basis period reform transition profits
• one-off transactions in UK land

HMRC's example: £25,000 rent plus £27,000 self-employment income gives £52,000 of qualifying income, which is over £50,000 (GOV.UK).

Special cases the checker asks about

• Started trading partway through a year? For sole traders, HMRC scales your income up to a full year: six months' trading is doubled. Landlords have to do this themselves (GOV.UK).
• Jointly owned property? Enter only your share. If you're only told your share after expenses, HMRC uses that figure (GOV.UK). See MTD for jointly owned property.
• Stopped all self-employment and property income? If it all stopped before 6 April 2026, you won't need MTD, but tell HMRC, or it may sign you up anyway (GOV.UK).
• Not UK resident? Only UK property income and self-employment income declared on your UK return count. You may also be temporarily exempt (GOV.UK).
• Possible exemption? For example, no National Insurance number, digital exclusion, or certain supplementary pages on your return. Some exemptions are automatic, but others you have to apply for. Partners claiming averaging relief on the SA104 page must apply, for example (GOV.UK). See MTD exemptions.

If the result says you need MTD

1. Choose software first. See our MTD for Income Tax guide and HMRC's software finder.
2. Sign up, or ask your agent to. You'll need to be registered for Self Assessment and to have filed a return in the last 2 years (GOV.UK).
3. Add the deadlines to your calendar. See MTD quarterly deadlines.

Next reads: MTD for landlords · MTD for sole traders · How to sign up · Free MTD software.