Updated on 6 April 2026

When does Making Tax Digital start for me?

Making Tax Digital for income tax is a new way of reporting and recording income and expenses if you are self-employed and/or receive property income, and for completing your annual tax return. You need to begin following the new rules once your gross income (sometimes called qualifying income) is more than the relevant Making Tax Digital threshold. We explain more about this below.

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Making Tax Digital thresholds

Making Tax Digital for income tax is being introduced over three consecutive tax years from 6 April 2026 (2026/27 tax year). Your start date depends on the amount of your annual gross income (qualifying income) in a particular tax year. Once your annual gross income (also known as ‘qualifying income’) exceeds the Making Tax Digital threshold for that tax year, you will be legally required to use Making Tax Digital unless you are exempt. 

The Making Tax Digital thresholds are: 

  • From 6 April 2026, the threshold is annual gross income of more than £50,000 from self-employment and/or property letting
  • From 6 April 2027, the threshold is  annual gross income of more than £30,000 from self-employment and/or property letting
  • From 6 April 2028, the threshold is annual gross income of more than £20,000 from self-employment and/or property letting

Please note: It is the amount of gross income from self-employment and/or property letting declared on your self assessment tax return for a particular tax year that triggers the Making Tax Digital requirements. We have summarised this in the table below:

Tax return

Qualifying income threshold

Making Tax Digital start date

2024/25 tax return

More than £50,000

6 April 2026*

2025/26 tax return

More than £30,000

6 April 2027*

2026/27 tax return

More than £20,000

6 April 2028*

*If you are self-employed and your accounts are made up to 31 March each year then your start date is 1 April and not 6 April.

You can choose to follow the Making Tax Digital rules voluntarily if you want to, even if you are not legally required to do so, provided you are not automatically exempt. 

Drop in gross income before start date

The respective start dates above apply even if your gross income falls below the threshold in the tax year before your start date. However, if you have no sources of self-employed or rental income by the time you reach your start date then you do not have to use Making Tax Digital. See our page When can I stop using Making Tax Digital? for more information on these scenarios.

Example – fall in gross income before start date

Peter is a self-employed journalist, and he makes his accounts up to 5 April each year. Peter’s 2024/25 and 2025/26 tax returns show the following in the self-employment section. The 2026/27 figures are his predicted income and expenses for that year:

  2024/25  2025/26 2026/27 (predicted)
  £ £ £
Gross income 44,000 36,000 18,000
Expenses 12,000 10,000 6,000
Net profit 32,000 26,000 12,000

He does not have any rental income and does not qualify for an exemption.

Peter’s gross income on the 2024/25 tax return is £44,000 and so is below the threshold of £50,000 for that tax year. He is therefore not required to use Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2026.

As Peter’s gross income on his 2025/26 tax return is £36,000 and above the £30,000 threshold for that year, he must sign up for Making Tax Digital and follow the new rules from 6 April 2027. 

Although Peter expects his gross income for the 2026/27 tax year to fall to around £18,000, he must still meet the Making Tax Digital requirements from 6 April 2027.

However, if Peter ceased his self-employment altogether in, say, December 2026, he would not need to join Making Tax Digital in April 2027 as he does not have any relevant sources of qualifying income at his start date.

Having a new source of self-employment or rental income

If you start a new self-employment or begin to receive rental income you will be in scope of Making Tax Digital for income tax once your annual gross income exceeds the relevant Making Tax Digital threshold (see Making Tax Digital thresholds section above). You will then be required to follow the new rules from 6 April after the 31 January filing deadline for the online self assessment tax return which shows the relevant gross income figure, or from 1 April after the 31 January deadline if you make up your accounts to 31 March each year. 

If the first year you receive income from your new self-employment or property rental is not a full tax year, then your gross income must be ‘annualised’ to give a gross income figure for a 12-month period to see if you reach the relevant threshold.

Alternatively you may be automatically exempt from Making Tax Digital or you might be able to apply for an exemption, see the page Making Tax Digital exemptions. 

Example – Making Tax Digital start date for new self-employment

Kai decided he would become a self-employed chef. He started his self-employment on 1 January 2025 and makes up his accounts to 31 March each year. In the first few years of his business, his accounts showed the following:

1 January 2025 to 31 March 2025 (24/25 tax return)

  • Gross income     £6,024
  • Expenses             £4,196
  • Net profit            £1,828

1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 (25/26 tax return)

  • Gross income     £24,520
  • Expenses             £9,366
  • Net profit            £15,154

1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 (2026/27 tax return) 

  • Gross income     £29,052
  • Expenses             £12,965
  • Net profit            £16,087

As Kai’s first year of trading was only for a three-month period, the gross income needs to be annualised to give a gross income figure for a 12-month period before being compared to the Making Tax Digital threshold. 

2024/25 tax year:

  • Gross income for 3 months = £6,024
  • Gross income for 12 months = £6,024/3 x 12 = £24,096

Looking at the table in the Making Tax Digital start date section above, this is below the first Making Tax Digital threshold of £50,000 and so Kai is not required to join Making Tax Digital in April 2026.

As his annual gross income for 2025/26 (£24,520) is less than the second £30,000 threshold, he is not required to join Making Tax Digital in April 2027 either. 

However, as his annual gross income for the 2026/27 tax year (£29,052) is more than the final Making Tax Digital threshold of £20,000, Kai will need to follow the Making Tax Digital rules from 1 April 2028. This is the April after the filing deadline of 31 January 2028 for his 2026/27 tax return.

What do I need to do for Making Tax Digital?

Identify your Making Tax Digital start date

By using the information above you should be able to work out when you have to start to use Making Tax Digital. We explain in the Preparing for Making Tax Digital section below what to do next.

HMRC reviewed all self assessment tax returns for the 2024/25 tax year filed by the deadline of 31 January 2026 to identify those who are legally required to follow the Making Tax Digital rules from April 2026 (unless they are exempt). Therefore, if you filed your 2024/25 tax return before 31 January 2026, and it showed that you had gross income from self-employment and/or rental income of more than £50,000, you should have received a letter from HMRC to notify you that Making Tax Digital applies to you from April 2026.

  If you have not received a letter from HMRC, even though you filed your 2024/25 tax return on time, and your gross income (qualifying income) in 2024/25 was more than £50,000, Making Tax Digital still applies to you from April 2026, unless you are exempt. 

  If you have not yet filed your 2024/25 tax return, or you filed the return after 31 January 2026, and you know that your gross income (qualifying income) was more than £50,000 for the 2024/25 tax year, Making Tax Digital still applies to you from April 2026, unless you are exempt. 

Remember that your start date is 6 April in a particular year unless you make your accounts up to 31 March each year, in which case your start date is 1 April. 

You can apply for an exemption from Making Tax Digital if you meet certain criteria. There are also a limited number of circumstances which mean that you are automatically exempt. Our page Making Tax Digital exemptions has more information on this.

You can check when you are required to follow the Making Tax Digital rules on GOV.UK if you are not sure of your position.

Preparing for Making Tax Digital

If you know now that your gross income (qualifying income) will be more than the Making Tax Digital threshold and that you are in scope of the Making Tax Digital rules and will not be exempt, there are two main steps you should take so you are ready for when the new rules apply to you: 

Step 1: Choose your software - whether that is a full accounting package, a simplified accounting package aimed at smaller businesses, a spreadsheet together with a bridging product, or an app. You can read more about all these different options on our page Choosing Making Tax Digital software. 

Step 2: Sign up for MTD – you do this online on GOV.UK.

You need to sign up on this page if either 

  • you must follow the Making Tax Digital rules from April 2027 and so you want to sign up so you are registered for Making Tax Digital in good time - in which case you choose to sign up for the 2027/28 tax year as part of the sign up process 
  • you want to voluntarily join Making Tax Digital early so you can get used to the process before you are legally required to use it – in which case you choose to sign up for the 2026/27 tax year as part of the sign-up process.

If you have more than one Making Tax Digital ‘source’ of income, (for example you are self-employed and have rental income or have two self-employments) you need to sign up both sources of income separately as part of the overall sign up process.

Once you’ve signed up, you should get a message on screen to confirm you’re ready to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. You will not receive an email but HMRC will write to you with confirmation.

If you are legally required to use Making Tax Digital from April 2026 but you are not yet doing so, then you still need to follow the two steps set out above as soon as possible. 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. 

The first Making Tax Digital deadline is to submit a quarterly update by 7 August 2026.  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. 

Frequently asked questions

What is the earliest date that Making Tax Digital can apply from?

The first tranche of taxpayers required to follow the new rules must do so from 6 April 2026 (the 2026/27 tax year), unless you are self-employed and make your accounts up to 31 March each year, in which case you must follow the new rules from 1 April 2026. This applies to those who reported qualifying income of more than £50,000 on their 2024/25 tax return. Making Tax Digital is being phased in over three years – the qualifying income threshold will reduce to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. You can sign up to use Making Tax Digital voluntarily at any time, provided you are not automatically exempt.

I’ve only recently become self-employed and this is my only income. I make my accounts up to 5 April each year. Am I in scope of Making Tax Digital from April 2026?

You must file one tax return under the current self-assessment system before joining Making Tax Digital. If you started trading in 2025/26, then you will not have to join Making Tax Digital until 6 April 2027 at the earliest, depending on what your qualifying income is on your 2025/26 self assessment tax return. You can sign up to use Making Tax Digital voluntarily at any time, provided you are not automatically exempt. 

What happens if I start to receive income from self-employment or property part way through the tax year?

If you start trading or renting out a property part way through the tax year, your income will need to be ’annualised’ so that a full 12 months of income can be compared against the Making Tax Digital threshold. See our section Having a new source of self-employment or rental income on this page.

My income is less than £20,000. Will I need to join Making Tax Digital?

if your annual gross income (qualifying income) is less than £20,000, under current rules you are not legally required to use Making Tax Digital. We will update this guidance if this changes. However you can choose to use Making Tax Digital voluntarily if you wish, provided you are not automatically exempt. 

I have not received a letter from HMRC about Making Tax Digital. Does this mean I don’t need to do anything?

HMRC have sent letters to those who they think are legally required to follow the new Making Tax Digital rules from April 2026, based on the data in the 2024/25 tax returns they received by 31 January 2026. However, it is still the taxpayer’s responsibility to check if they meet the criteria. Therefore if you haven’t received a letter but you know your gross income exceeded the relevant threshold, and you do not qualify for an exemption, you still need to sign up for Making Tax Digital. See our section What do I need to do for Making Tax Digital above.

How do I sign up for Making Tax Digital for income tax?

You must sign up online at GOV.UK. You will need your government gateway login details. 

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