HMRC’s latest letter drop about Making Tax Digital lands just before Easter start date

Over the last couple of weeks, HMRC have been sending out their final batch of letters to taxpayers who they think must follow the new Making Tax Digital for income tax rules from April 2026. The taxpayers receiving this latest letter have been identified from the 2024/25 self assessment tax returns received by HMRC in December 2025 and January 2026. (Letters were also sent out in November 2025 and February 2026 to those who filed their returns earlier than December, see our previous news articles regarding these.)

Therefore if you filed your 2024/25 self assessment tax return by the filing deadline of 31 January 2026 and it showed gross income from self-employment and/or property letting of more than £50,000, you should have received one of HMRC’s letters by April 2026 at the latest. If you have not yet taken any action in connection with Making Tax Digital then the letters explain what steps you need to take to be able to deal with the new system.

However if you haven’t received a letter this does not necessarily mean that Making Tax Digital doesn’t apply to you. It is still your legal responsibility to check whether you need to follow the new Making Tax Digital process. Our guidance Who does Making Tax Digital apply to? will help you with this. If you do need to follow the new rules, you must take the necessary steps to be ready as soon as possible if you have not already done so.

You should bear in mind that some people are automatically exempt from the new rules and there are also grounds for applying for an exemption if you consider that you are digitally excluded. See our page on Making Tax Digital exemptions for more information on possible exemptions and the process for applying.

In summary, the key tasks are:

1. Sign up for Making Tax Digital provided you definitely meet the criteria, unless exemption applies;
2. Choose some suitable MTD compatible software (HMRC’s software choices tool may help you with this);
3. Begin to keep digital records from April 2026.

If you haven’t managed to sign up and get software in place by the beginning of April then don’t panic. You should sign up as soon as you can, decide which software you want to use and begin to keep records digitally. The first Making Tax Digital deadline is to submit a quarterly update by 7 August.  As long as your digital records are up to date for the three-month period from April 2026 by the time this update is due, this deadline can then be met. There is no penalty for not signing up by 6 April 2026, but you do risk falling behind on record keeping if you do not get prepared in the near future. 

For detailed information about Making Tax Digital for income tax please see our Making Tax Digital hub for guidance covering all aspects of the new regime, including choosing compatible software, digital record keeping, filing quarterly updates and the end of year tax return.