Free · no sign-up · nothing storedLaw checked 2 November 2026

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax checker: do I need to use it?

Do I need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?

Yes, if you are a sole trader or landlord in Self Assessment and your qualifying income (self-employment turnover plus property income, before expenses) was more than £50,000 in 2024-25 (you start 6 April 2026), more than £30,000 in 2025-26 (from 6 April 2027) or more than £20,000 in 2026-27 (from 6 April 2028). Wages and pensions do not count.

The test uses gross income, not profit. A landlord with £25,000 of rent and £27,000 of self-employed takings is at £52,000 and in from April 2026, even if the profit is half that.

Type your gross figures for each test year. The checker shows which wave catches you first and what that means.

Use the calculator All free tools

Built by Muhammad Shahzeb Anwar, MSc Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Thresholds, qualifying-income rules and exemptions checked on GOV.UK, including the Budget of 28 October 2026.

The calculator

Check if MTD applies to you

Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.

2024-25 (the test for April 2026)

12 if all year. A part first year is scaled up to 12 months.

2025-26 (the test for April 2027)

12 if all year. A part first year is scaled up to 12 months.

2026-27 (the test for April 2028)

12 if all year. A part first year is scaled up to 12 months.

Your profit and exemptions

Only to show the difference between profit and gross income.
The list is in the section below.

    Who has to use it, and when

    Qualifying income more thanIn tax yearStart
    £50,0002024-256 April 2026
    £30,0002025-266 April 2027
    £20,0002026-276 April 2028

    You also need to be registered for Self Assessment and have self-employment or property income. Each wave looks at one tax year's return. Once you are in, you stay in unless your qualifying income stays under the threshold for three tax years in a row. HMRC writes to many people it thinks are in, but GOV.UK says checking is still your responsibility.

    What counts as qualifying income

    Your self-employment turnover plus your property income, before expenses. Add every sole-trade business and every property together. For a jointly owned property, count your share only: half of £50,000 rent is £25,000. Foreign property counts if you were UK tax resident. Employment income, pensions, dividends and your share of a partnership's profit do not count.

    Worked example. Priya earns £27,000 from freelance design and £25,000 in rent in 2024-25. Qualifying income: £52,000, which is more than £50,000, so the rule says MTD from 6 April 2026. Her expenses are £14,000, so her profit is £38,000, but profit is not the test. If Priya had started trading halfway through the year with £13,500 of takings, HMRC would double it to £27,000 to get a full-year figure.

    Quarterly updates and deadlines for 2026-27

    UpdateStandard periodDue by
    16 April to 5 July 20267 August 2026
    26 April to 5 October 20267 November 2026
    36 April 2026 to 5 January 20277 February 2027
    46 April 2026 to 5 April 20277 May 2027
    Tax returnThe whole tax year31 January 2028

    Each update covers the tax year so far, not just three months. If your accounts run 1 April to 31 March you can choose calendar periods ending 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March; the due dates stay the same. Each digital record holds the amount, the date and the category. If a business's turnover (or your UK property income) is under £90,000, you can send expenses as one total.

    Penalty points

    Each missed deadline earns one penalty point. At 4 points there is a £200 penalty, and another £200 for each later miss. GOV.UK says there are no penalty points for late quarterly updates in the 2026-27 tax year. The Budget on 28 October 2026 added that people who must join in April 2027 will get no points for late 2027-28 quarterly updates; people who joined in April 2026 start getting points from 2027-28, with the first deadline on 7 August 2027. Late tax returns get points either way. Paying late is separate: from day 16, 3% of the unpaid tax for 2026-27 (4% for 2027-28), another step at day 30, then 10% a year.

    Exemptions and common mistakes

    Exempt automatically (GOV.UK): qualifying income of £20,000 or less; no National Insurance number before the tax year; personal representatives of someone who has died; people who cannot deal with HMRC because of incapacity and have a power of attorney or deputy; Lloyd's members; ministers of religion; Married Couple's or Blind Person's Allowance; trusts; partnerships for now. Until further notice (Budget 2026): people who can claim qualifying care relief, such as foster carers, non-UK resident entertainers and sportspeople, and expected non-residents. If you are digitally excluded, you apply to HMRC.

    Mistakes we see: testing profit instead of gross income; forgetting to add rent and self-employment together; counting the whole of a jointly owned property; thinking each update is a separate three months; and assuming a spreadsheet alone can send updates. It cannot: you need software that works with MTD, and a spreadsheet can be your record if it is linked to bridging software.

    Before you rely on this

    What this will not tell you

    This applies HMRC's published thresholds to the figures you type. It does not decide exemptions, partnerships, a first update period that starts mid-year, or whether income is self-employment or property income in the first place. It does not send anything to HMRC. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

    Questions

    Questions people actually ask

    Is Making Tax Digital based on profit or turnover?

    Turnover. Qualifying income is your gross self-employment and property income before expenses, so a business with £55,000 of sales and £20,000 of costs is over £50,000.

    Do I add rental income and self-employed income together for MTD?

    Yes. All self-employment and property income is added together for the one test. For jointly owned property, only your share counts.

    Does my salary count towards the MTD threshold?

    No. Employment income, pensions, dividends and a share of partnership profit are left out of qualifying income.

    When does MTD start for people earning over £30,000?

    6 April 2027, for sole traders and landlords whose qualifying income was more than £30,000 in the 2025-26 tax year. The £20,000 wave starts on 6 April 2028, based on 2026-27.

    Can I use a spreadsheet for Making Tax Digital?

    You can keep your records in a spreadsheet, but you need software that works with MTD to send updates. Bridging software links to the spreadsheet by linked cells or a CSV import.

    Are there penalties for late MTD quarterly updates in 2026-27?

    No points for late quarterly updates in the 2026-27 tax year. From 2027-28 each missed deadline earns a point, with £200 at 4 points; April 2027 joiners get the first-year easement for 2027-28.

    Do I have to use MTD if my income drops below the threshold?

    Once you are in, you can only stop when your qualifying income stays under the threshold for three tax years in a row.

    Where every rule comes from

    Sources

    Checked against the text of the law on 2 November 2026. Laws and notified rates change; if a source below has moved on, the source wins over this page.

    1. GOV.UK: Check if you're eligible for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-youre-eligible-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax
    2. GOV.UK: Work out your qualifying income: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax
    3. GOV.UK: Find out if you can get an exemption: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-can-get-an-exemption-from-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax
    4. GOV.UK: Send quarterly updates: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/send-quarterly-updates
    5. GOV.UK: Create digital records: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/create-digital-records
    6. GOV.UK: Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/penalties-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax
    7. GOV.UK: Budget 2026 Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates (paragraphs 2.36 and 2.37): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2026-overview-of-tax-legislation-and-rates-ootlar/budget-2026-overview-of-tax-legislation-and-rates-ootlar
    Citation

    Cite this tool

    Free to use and free to quote. If a figure here is useful in something you are writing, a link back is all that is asked.

    Muhammad Shahzeb Anwar, MSc Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Making Tax Digital Income Tax Checker. Shahzeb Speaks. https://www.shahzebspeaks.com/making-tax-digital-income-tax-checker/

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    In, or about to be? Keep the records in one place

    The MTD Quarterly Record Book is an Excel and Google Sheets workbook (plus an offline web version) that logs every income and expense line in HMRC's categories, adds up the year-so-far figure each quarterly update needs, tracks the deadlines and penalty points, and lays the totals out to link to bridging software. It is a record book and checker, not filing software: you still need MTD software to send updates.

    Get the MTD Record Book, $24