MTD for Income Tax readiness guide: who is in scope (£50k joined April 2026, £30k April 2027), quarterly deadlines, software vs spreadsheet, free pack.
You are in MTD for Income Tax now if your combined gross income from self-employment and property was over £50,000 on your 2024/25 return; the over £30,000 group joins April 2027 and over £20,000 has been announced for April 2028. Quarterly updates are due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, with the final declaration still due 31 January. Spreadsheets remain legal if you submit through bridging software with digital links.
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Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is live: the £50,000 gross income cohort joined in April 2026 and the £30,000 cohort follows in April 2027. This guide answers the three questions that actually matter, am I in scope, what are the deadlines, and do I need software or can I keep my spreadsheet, and the free pack gives you the checklist and every 2026/27 and 2027/28 date in one calendar.
Two files in one zip: the readiness checklist as a Word document with the am-I-in-scope questions in order plus the getting-ready steps, and the deadline calendar in Excel with every 2026/27 and 2027/28 date and a live days-until countdown. Enter your details and the zip downloads immediately.
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Download the pack (zip)The test is gross income, not profit: your turnover from self-employment plus your gross property income, added together, as reported on the tax return two years before the start year. That two year lag means your 2024/25 return decided whether you joined in April 2026, and your 2025/26 return decides April 2027.
Exemptions exist for the digitally excluded (age, disability, remoteness, religious grounds, applied for through HMRC), and some groups such as trustees are not required to join yet. The checklist in the pack walks this as numbered questions so you get a clear yes or no.
Once in, you send four quarterly updates a year, each due on the 7th of the month after the quarter ends. The updates are cumulative, so each covers the tax year from 6 April to the quarter end and quietly corrects anything you fixed in an earlier quarter. Standard periods end 5 July, 5 October, 5 January and 5 April; you can elect calendar quarters (from 1 April) and keep the same deadlines.
Two things people miss. First, no tax is paid with a quarterly update; it is a summary, not a bill. Second, the year end has not gone away: the final declaration, with tax calculated and payable, is still due by 31 January after the tax year. That is five diary dates a year, and the calendar in the pack lists all of them for 2026/27 and 2027/28 with a live countdown column.
MTD does not force you into accounting software. The legal requirement is digital records and digital submission, and a spreadsheet counts as digital records provided you submit through bridging software and keep digital links: figures must flow between digital tools without being retyped.
Either way, the real preparation is behavioural: moving from once-a-year January bookkeeping to a quarterly rhythm. Start that this year, not the week before your first deadline.
Thresholds and dates last checked: 15 July 2026. Rates last checked: 15 July 2026 (tax year 2026/27).
Sole traders and landlords whose combined gross income from self-employment and property was more than £50,000 on their 2024/25 tax return joined MTD for Income Tax in April 2026. The test is gross income, meaning turnover before expenses, not profit, and it adds self-employment and property income together.
April 2027. If your combined gross income from self-employment and property is more than £30,000 on your 2025/26 return, you join MTD for Income Tax from 6 April 2027 and your first quarterly update will be due by 7 August 2027. The government has also announced that the over £20,000 group joins from April 2028.
7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, every year. Each quarterly update is cumulative, covering the tax year from 6 April up to the quarter end (5 July, 5 October, 5 January, 5 April). You can elect calendar quarters starting 1 April instead; the deadlines stay the same. The year-end final declaration is still due by 31 January after the tax year.
Yes. Spreadsheets remain legal under MTD if you submit through bridging software and keep digital links, meaning no retyping figures between digital tools. If your spreadsheet bookkeeping works, spreadsheet plus bridging is often cheaper and less disruptive than moving to full software; if your records are a shoebox, dedicated MTD software is usually the better move.
No. The four quarterly updates are summaries of income and expenses, not tax returns, and no tax is due with them. You still finalise everything in a final declaration by 31 January after the tax year, which is when tax is calculated and paid as now.
You can apply for exemption if it is not reasonably practicable for you to use digital tools, for example due to age, disability, location or religious grounds. Some groups are not required to join yet, including trustees and personal representatives, and foster carers with qualifying care income. Below the income thresholds you simply stay in normal Self Assessment.