MTD for income over £30,000: what changes from April 2027

Short answer: If your gross self-employment and property income was over £30,000 on your 2025-26 tax return, you must use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2027. Your first quarterly update is due by 7 August 2027. HMRC writes to people in this group, but if you have no letter, checking is still your job.

Not sure which group you are in? Use the MTD checker.

Who is in the £30,000 group

MTD for Income Tax is being phased in by income. GOV.UK sets out three steps:

Qualifying income over	Taken from your return for	You must use MTD from
£50,000	2024-25	6 April 2026
£30,000	2025-26	6 April 2027
£20,000	2026-27	6 April 2028

This page is about the middle row. HMRC checks your Self Assessment return each year. Partnerships will join later, with a timeline still to be announced.

What counts as qualifying income

Qualifying income is gross, not profit. GOV.UK says it is your self-employment and property income before expenses (turnover), taken from your Self Assessment return.

Self-employment and property are added together, across all your sources.

Example: Sam, a plumber and landlord. Sam had £27,000 of self-employment turnover and £6,000 of rent in 2025-26. Qualifying income is £33,000. Sam is in the £30,000 group, even if profit after costs was only £18,000.

Example: Priya, a landlord. Priya has one property with £28,000 of rent and £11,000 of repairs and mortgage costs. Qualifying income is £28,000. She is below £30,000 and not in this group.

Example: Dan and Lee, joint owners. A flat brings in £50,000 of rent, split equally. Only your share counts, so each owner has £25,000 from it. If Dan also has £8,000 from freelance work, his qualifying income is £33,000 and Lee’s is £25,000. See MTD for jointly owned property.

Things that do not count include wages, dividends and pensions. Your share of partnership profit as a partner does not count either. GOV.UK lists the full inclusions and exclusions on its qualifying income page, and our guide to what counts as qualifying income walks through them.

What the HMRC letter means

HMRC reviews your return and writes to people whose qualifying income is above the threshold. The letter confirms you need to start using MTD for Income Tax from the start of the next tax year. For the 2025-26 return, that is 6 April 2027.

GOV.UK also says that if you do not get a letter, you are still responsible for checking. If you disagree with HMRC’s view, contact HMRC. In some cases HMRC may sign you up itself: GOV.UK has a page on what to do if that happens.

The letter does not replace your tax return. You still file a return and pay tax as before.

What to do, and when

When	What
Now (November 2026)	Check your 2025-26 qualifying income. Read your HMRC letter if you have one.
By 31 January 2027	File your 2025-26 tax return. Your qualifying income is read from it.
Before 6 April 2027	Choose software. Sign up and authorise it. Decide on standard or calendar quarters.
From 6 April 2027	Keep digital records for 2027-28.
7 August 2027	First quarterly update, covering 6 April to 5 July 2027.
7 November 2027	Second update, cumulative from 6 April.
7 February 2028	Third update.
7 May 2028	Fourth update.
31 January 2029	Final declaration for 2027-28.

The full list, including calendar quarters, is on the MTD deadlines page.

To sign up you must be registered for Self Assessment and have filed a return in the last 2 years. You can sign up yourself on GOV.UK, or an agent can sign you up. GOV.UK suggests choosing your software before you sign up.

What a quarterly update is

Each update is cumulative: it covers everything from the start of the tax year to the end of that period. You send totals of income and expenses, not individual transactions. You must send one even if you had no income or expenses. See cumulative quarterly updates and what goes in an update.

You also keep digital records. A spreadsheet or bank CSV can be part of that, as long as the data moves between tools without retyping. Tools like SendMTD are being built to read a bank statement CSV and prepare the totals. It is not live yet and is not HMRC recognised. More on this in spreadsheets and bank statements.

Penalties for this group

The Budget 2026 document on GOV.UK (28 October 2026) says people joining MTD for Income Tax in April 2027 will not receive penalty points for late submission of their first four quarterly updates for 2027-28. The GOV.UK penalties guidance had not been updated with this when we checked, so confirm the current position there. The easement covers late quarterly updates only. Late returns and late payments are still penalised. Details are on MTD penalties.

Exemptions and digital exclusion

You may be exempt if you are digitally excluded, meaning it is not reasonable for you to use compatible software. GOV.UK gives examples such as age, health or disability, a religious objection, or no internet access where you live. HMRC decides each case individually. Not being used to software, or the cost, is not enough on its own.

Exempt people do not use the service but must still report income and gains on a Self Assessment return. If you need MTD from 6 April 2027, GOV.UK says you can apply now. Read the current page before you apply, or see who is exempt from MTD.

Budget 2026 also says the government is deferring MTD for Income Tax for “several taxpayer groups until further notice”. ICAEW reports these include people eligible for qualifying care relief, such as foster carers, but GOV.UK guidance had not listed the groups when we checked. If you think this could apply to you, check GOV.UK or ask an agent.

Sources

• Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• Send quarterly updates
• Check what to do if HMRC has signed you up
• Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• Sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• ICAEW: Budget MTD penalty soft landing and exclusions (secondary source)
• Apply for an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• Budget 2026 (HTML)
• Submit your tax return