Snag listHome › Self-employed tax › Making Tax Digital checker
Making Tax Digital checker
When do you join Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?
Check when Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to you from your qualifying income (turnover before expenses), and when your next quarterly update is due.
Rules last checked against the official pages on 9 October 2026.
Making Tax Digital checker
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: check the thresholds
Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax means keeping digital records and sending quarterly updates to HMRC from compatible software. Qualifying income is your self-employed income plus your share of any rental income, before expenses. A salary, pensions and dividends don't count.
HMRC checks a different tax year for each start date: 2024–25 for April 2026, 2025–26 for April 2027 and 2026–27 for April 2028.
Keep your records for the tax year. Sole trader records (Excel, £12 once) adds up income, expenses and mileage by quarter and gives a year-end profit for your return. It suits sole traders under the Making Tax Digital threshold; above it, a spreadsheet needs bridging software to send updates to HMRC.