Making Tax Digital
One tax return a year is becoming five submissions.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax changes how sole traders and landlords report to HMRC. Here is what it is, who it catches, and what we do about it.
Who it applies to, and when
- April 2026
- Self-employed and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000.
- April 2027
- Threshold falls to £30,000.
- April 2028
- Threshold falls to £20,000 (announced; check current guidance).
Qualifying income is gross turnover plus gross rents before expenses, from the tax return two years before.
What changes
- Digital records. Income and expenses must be kept in software that can talk to HMRC. A spreadsheet on its own no longer counts.
- Quarterly updates. Four submissions a year of your running totals, due a month after each quarter ends.
- A final declaration. Replaces the self-assessment return, due 31 January as before.
- Penalties on points. Late submissions earn points; enough points earn a fine. Consistency matters more than it used to.
What we do
Every package includes the digital record-keeping and the four quarterly updates. You photograph receipts and let the bank feed run; we do the rest and confirm each submission by email.
If you're under the threshold today, we keep the records the same way so that when you cross it, nothing changes except a box on a form.
See packages or book a call to check whether MTD applies to you yet.
Find out if MTD applies to you.
Twenty minutes, your last tax return to hand, and you'll know where you stand and what it would cost to have it handled.