Making Tax Digital (MTD) Calculator and Compliance Guide UK 2026

CheckMyMTD

Check if Making Tax Digital applies to you

Free, personalised MTD calculator — get your exact qualifying income, deadlines and next steps in under 60 seconds, based on current HMRC guidance.

Type a figure and the card updates live. You can split it by income type in the full check.

HMRC guidance referenced

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Your qualifying income

Combine all self-employment and rental income, gross, before expenses — exactly as HMRC calculates your threshold.

Self-employment income Gross before expenses

Sole trader, freelancer, consultant, CIS contractor — use gross income before deductions at source

UK rental income Gross rents received

UK property rental before expenses. Joint property: enter your share only

Gig / platform income 2nd business or side hustle

Uber, Deliveroo, Etsy, eBay, Airbnb (above Rent a Room £7,500) — use gross before platform fees

Partnership share Shown for awareness, currently MTD-excluded

Partnerships have no confirmed MTD mandation date — entered for awareness only, does not count towards your threshold

Total Qualifying Income

£0

Enter income above

Foreign / overseas income Counts if UK tax resident

Foreign property income (and overseas self-employment declared on your UK return) of a UK tax resident. It is added to your total. If you are not a UK tax resident, leave this at £0.

Income pattern Affects your score

Seasonal or volatile income affects preparation urgency and software needs

ℹ️ Never counts: PAYE salary · pension income · dividends · savings interest · capital gains · your share of partnership profit. HMRC eligibility guidance ↗

A bit about your situation
This personalises your software recommendation, penalty assessment and action plan. Takes 30 seconds.

Your MTD status right now

Technology comfort level

Monthly software budget

Expected income next year Estimate is fine
£

I use an accountant or bookkeeperAffects software pick

I invoice clients regularlyInvoicing features matter

I work mainly on mobileApp quality is priority

I am VAT registeredAlready use MTD for VAT

I have joint property with a partnerYou each file separately

Disability prevents digital useExemption ground: permanent

Age-related digital exclusionExemption ground: assessed individually

No reliable internet in my areaExemption ground: remote location

Religious objection to digital recordsExemption ground: evidenced belief

Why we calculated this
Every figure explained in plain English. Click any row.

What-if simulator
Tap any scenario to see how it changes your MTD obligation.

Your 3-year MTD forecast
How the three phase thresholds affect you over the coming tax years.

Your penalty exposure
Soft landing 2026–27 for Phase 1 only. Full points from April 2027.

Save & share your results
Send to your accountant, download a PDF report, or copy a shareable summary.

Your quarterly submission calendar
Every MTD deadline for your first full year — add to any calendar in one click.

Important: Quarterly updates are summaries of income and expenses — not tax returns, and not payment requests. Your Final Declaration (replacing Self Assessment) is due 31 January 2028 for the 2026–27 tax year. The End of Period Statement (EOPS) has been removed — there is now just one year-end submission. HMRC guide ↗

All HMRC-approved options
Ranked for your profile. Prices checked 8 October 2026 (ex VAT, standard price after any introductory offer). Verify before purchasing. Software links are affiliate.

Who must comply, and when

MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment rolls out in three confirmed phases. HMRC assesses your qualifying income from your Self Assessment return: 2024–25 for April 2026, 2025–26 for April 2027, 2026–27 for April 2028.

Apr 2026

Income over £50,000

Phase 1 has been live since April 2026. First quarterly update was due 7 August 2026; next due 7 November 2026. Soft landing: no penalty points for quarterly submissions in 2026–27. Payment interest still applies from day one.

Apr 2027

Income over £30,000

Phase 2. Sole traders and landlords with £30k–£50k qualifying income join. No soft landing confirmed for this cohort. Full penalty points from the start.

Apr 2028

Income over £20,000

Phase 3 confirmed in Spring Statement 26 March 2025. Brings further sole traders and landlords into scope.

Taxpayer type

April 2026 ✓

April 2027

April 2028

Notes

Sole trader (£50k+ income)

LIVE

Yes

Based on 2024–25 Self Assessment income

Landlord (£50k+ rental)

LIVE

Yes

Property rental income (UK, and foreign for UK tax residents)

Sole trader (£30k–£50k)

Not yet

MANDATORY

Yes

Monitor 2025–26 income carefully

CIS contractor

If £50k+ gross

If £30k+ gross

If £20k+

Gross CIS income before deductions counts

Gig worker (Uber/Etsy/Airbnb)

If £50k+ gross

If £30k+

If £20k+

Platform gross earnings used

FHL (post-April 2025)

If £50k+

If £30k+

If £20k+

FHLs now treated as ordinary property

Power of Attorney / Court of Protection

Permanently exempt

Exempt

Per HMRC guidance

PAYE employee only

Exempt

Employment income never qualifies

Pension / investments only

Exempt

Pension and dividend income excluded

MTD for Corporation Tax

Cancelled

N/A

HMRC confirmed will not be introduced

We built what we needed ourselves

When MTD was announced, most guidance was written for accountants — dense, jargon-heavy, and useless for the 4.2 million sole traders who just needed to know what to do and when.

HMRC-sourced

Every rule sourced directly from GOV.UK.

Your data stays local

Nothing transmitted to any server. Ever.

Updated

HMRC changes reflected here promptly. Last updated October 2026.

Plain English only

No jargon. No scare tactics. Just clear answers.

100% independent

Not HMRC. Not owned by any software company.

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Small affiliate fee if you buy software. Never affects our rankings.

Phase

From

Qualifying income

Status

Phase 1

6 April 2026 (live)

Over £50,000

Live since Apr 2026

Phase 2

6 April 2027

Over £30,000

Coming soon

Phase 3

6 April 2028

Over £20,000

Confirmed

Real questions. Direct answers.

The questions sole traders and landlords actually ask — answered plainly, with links to official HMRC sources so you can verify every word.

Only two types of income count towards your Making Tax Digital qualifying income, both measured gross, before expenses:

Self-employment income — sole trader profits, freelance work, consultancy, CIS sub-contracting (gross before deductions at source), gig economy platforms (Uber, Deliveroo, Etsy, eBay, Airbnb above the Rent a Room £7,500 allowance)
UK property rental income — gross rents from residential or commercial property. Joint owners: enter your share only. Furnished Holiday Lets (post-April 2025): treated as ordinary property, counts in full.

These are explicitly excluded and never count: PAYE salary • pension income (state, private, SIPP, annuity) • dividends • savings interest • capital gains • trust income. It does not matter how large these amounts are — they have zero effect on your MTD ITSA threshold.

HMRC assesses your threshold against the previous tax year's figures. If your 2024–25 self-employment and rental income combined exceeded £50,000, you are mandatory from 6 April 2026. Use our free MTD calculator above to check your exact position in 60 seconds.

Official HMRC eligibility guidance ↗ • MTD guide for sole traders → • MTD guide for landlords →

MTD for Income Tax became mandatory on 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords whose qualifying income was over £50,000 in the 2024–25 tax year. The first quarterly deadline, 7 August 2026, has now passed. HMRC's guidance says:

No penalty points in 2026–27: HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates this tax year. You still need to keep digital records and send your quarterly updates before you can submit your tax return.
Next deadline: 7 November 2026, for the update covering 6 April to 5 October 2026. Each update is cumulative: it covers the whole tax year so far, not just the last three months. Then 7 February 2027 and 7 May 2027.
Not signed up yet? Sign up as soon as you can, connect compatible software and send any outstanding updates.
The relief is narrow: penalty points still apply to a late tax return, and late payment penalties and interest apply to late payments.
31 January 2027: you still file your 2025–26 Self Assessment return the usual way.

Not started? Sign up through GOV.UK, then choose HMRC-compatible software. Our calculator recommends options for your profile.

HMRC: sign up for MTD for Income Tax ↗ • Deadline guide: Q1 passed, next is 7 November 2026 →

Good news: HMRC removed the End of Period Statement (EOPS) entirely from the MTD for Income Tax process. If you heard about EOPS in earlier guidance, it no longer exists.

The current MTD ITSA year-end process is now much simpler:

4 quarterly updates during the tax year (income and expense summaries, not tax returns)
1 Final Declaration at year end (due 31 January, replacing Self Assessment) — this is where you confirm your total income, claim reliefs, and finalise your tax position

The Final Declaration for the 2026–27 tax year is due 31 January 2028. No separate EOPS, no separate SA return, no duplicated submissions. Your MTD software handles all of this automatically.

HMRC: using MTD for Income Tax ↗ • MTD soft landing explained →

The MTD quarterly update deadlines for the 2026–27 tax year are fixed. Miss any of these and, after the soft landing ends, you accumulate penalty points:

Quarter	Period covered	Deadline
Q1	6 April – 5 July 2026	7 August 2026
Q2	6 April – 5 October 2026	7 November 2026
Q3	6 April 2026 – 5 January 2027	7 February 2027
Q4	6 April 2026 – 5 April 2027	7 May 2027
Final Declaration	Full year 2026–27	31 January 2028

Quarterly updates are summaries of income and expenses — not tax returns, not payment requests. You have exactly one month and two days after each quarter end to submit.

Deadline guide: Q1 passed, next is 7 November 2026 → • Download your personal ICS calendar →

MTD for Income Tax has points-based late submission penalties and separate late payment penalties (HMRC: Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax).

1 penalty point for each missed deadline: quarterly updates (from the 2027–28 tax year) or the tax return
£200 penalty when you reach 4 points, and £200 for each further missed deadline
Removing points: below the threshold, each point is removed automatically 24 months after the missed deadline. At the threshold you must submit on time for 12 months and send all outstanding submissions for the previous 24 months.

2026–27: no penalty points for late quarterly updates. You still must send them before you can submit your tax return, and penalty points still apply to a late tax return.

Late payment penalties apply to balancing payments (not payments on account). In your first year you have 30 days to pay in full or agree a payment plan before penalties start. For 2026–27 tax: 16 to 30 days late, 3% of the tax owed at day 15 (no penalty at this stage in your first year); 31 days or more, 3% at day 15 and 3% at day 30, plus 10% a year on the outstanding amount from day 31, for up to 2 years. For 2027–28 tax the percentages are 4% and 4%. Late payment interest is charged separately from the first day.

If you join in April 2027, penalty points can apply from your first quarterly update.

HMRC penalties guidance ↗ • Full MTD penalties guide →

HMRC groups exemptions as automatic or apply-for, and permanent or temporary. Exempt taxpayers keep filing Self Assessment as normal.

Automatic, permanent unless your circumstances change:

Qualifying income of £20,000 or less
No National Insurance number before the start of the tax year
Trusts (SA900), non-resident companies (SA700) and personal representatives of someone who has died
Lloyd's members (SA103L), and people not physically or mentally capable of providing information to HMRC who have a Power of Attorney in place or a legally appointed deputy, controller or guardian (if shown on your 2024–25 return)

Automatic until April 2027 at the earliest (if on your 2024–25 return): averaging relief (SA103, as an individual), qualifying care relief, trust or estate income (SA107) and the SA109 supplementary page (for example non-residents and dual residents).

Automatic beyond April 2027 (you will need MTD later): ministers of religion (SA102M), Married Couple's Allowance and Blind Person's Allowance.

Apply to HMRC: digital exclusion (for example age, health or disability, religious beliefs incompatible with digital records, or no internet access you can reasonably use). HMRC does not accept applications based only on past paper filing, unfamiliarity with software, few records, or extra time or cost. You also apply if you expect to claim the reliefs above on your 2025–26 or 2026–27 return, or a partner averaging relief (SA104).

Partnerships are not currently in MTD for Income Tax; HMRC will set out a timeline.

HMRC: exemptions ↗ • Full exemptions guide →

No — pension income is completely excluded from the MTD for Income Tax qualifying income calculation. This applies to all pension types without exception:

State Pension (new state pension and basic state pension)
Private and workplace pensions (defined benefit, defined contribution)
Self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs)
Annuities and drawdown income

It does not matter how large your pension income is — even £200,000 per year in pension creates zero MTD ITSA obligation on its own. The same applies to PAYE, dividends, savings interest and capital gains.

The only way pension income can indirectly trigger MTD: if you also have self-employment or UK rental income above the threshold. For example: a retired person receiving £30,000 pension who also earns £55,000 in gross rents is above the April 2026 threshold — the rental income alone triggers it, not the pension.

HMRC MTD eligibility guidance ↗ • MTD for landlords → • Check your position free →

Yes — each co-owner is assessed individually on their own share. Joint property thresholds are never pooled:

50/50 couple with £110,000 total gross rental: each has £55,000 — both above April 2026 threshold, both must register separately
50/50 couple with £80,000 total gross rental: each has £40,000 — both join MTD in April 2027 (Phase 2)
90/10 split on £80,000: one partner has £72,000 (Phase 1), the other has £8,000 (below all current thresholds)

Married couples and civil partners split rental income 50/50 by default. If you hold unequal beneficial interests, declare this via HMRC Form 17. Unmarried co-owners split in any proportion matching actual beneficial interest.

Each partner above the threshold must register individually, use their own MTD software account, submit four quarterly updates per year, and file their own Final Declaration.

Full MTD landlord guide → • Check your individual obligation →

Yes — all gig economy and platform income counts as self-employment income for MTD purposes. The threshold uses gross platform earnings before commission, not what reaches your bank account:

Uber / Bolt driver: £55,000 gross trips processed = £55,000 qualifying income, even after 25% commission reduces your payout to £41,250. Vehicle costs, fuel, insurance reduce your taxable profit, not your MTD threshold.
Deliveroo / Just Eat rider: Same rule. Gross earnings before platform fee count in full.
Etsy / eBay seller: Gross sales revenue counts. Platform fees and materials reduce profit, not threshold.
Airbnb host: Gross rental income counts. Room income fully covered by the £7,500 Rent a Room limit and not reported on your tax return is not counted. If you report it, count the gross amount, and check HMRC's tool.

HMRC already knows your figures. Since January 2024, all UK digital platforms must legally report seller earnings to HMRC under Digital Platform Reporting rules. If you are above the threshold and not yet registered, HMRC has been notified.

MTD for Uber and gig workers → • MTD for Etsy and eBay sellers → • Check your obligation →

No. MTD for Corporation Tax will not be introduced. HMRC confirmed this in July 2025 (Transformation Roadmap). Limited companies are completely unaffected by MTD ITSA.

Your limited company: Pays Corporation Tax, files annual CT600. No MTD obligation, cancelled.
You as a director drawing salary only: PAYE income is excluded. No personal MTD obligation on that income.
If you also earn rental income or have a sole trade: Your personal rental and self-employment income above the threshold is still subject to MTD ITSA, regardless of also running a company.
Dividends from your company: Dividend income is excluded from MTD qualifying income entirely.

Example: director drawing £50,000 salary + £10,000 dividends = zero personal MTD obligation. Director drawing £30,000 salary + personally owns a rental property earning £60,000 gross = in scope for April 2026.

MTD for sole traders → • Check your personal obligation free →

MTD for Income Tax rolls out in three confirmed phases:

Phase	Date	Threshold	Taxpayers
Phase 1	6 April 2026	Over £50,000	864,000+ in scope (HMRC, July 2026). LIVE NOW
Phase 2	6 April 2027	Over £30,000	Additional taxpayers
Phase 3	6 April 2028	Over £20,000	Additional taxpayers

Your phase is based on your qualifying income in an earlier tax year (2024–25 for April 2026, 2025–26 for April 2027, 2026–27 for April 2028). If your 2025–26 income is between £30,000 and £50,000, you become mandatory in April 2027 — not April 2026. HMRC guidance confirms the £20,000 threshold applies from April 2028, based on your 2026–27 income.

MTD phases: full guide → • Full threshold table → • Check which phase applies to you →

Yes. HMRC-approved software is mandatory. You cannot submit quarterly updates directly through HMRC's website. The software connects to HMRC's API and submits on your behalf.

QuickBooks — best mobile app, strongest MTD ITSA integration, from £10/month + VAT. Best for most sole traders.
FreeAgent — purpose-built for UK self-employed, excellent invoicing, from £19/month. Very beginner-friendly.
Xero — accountants' favourite, largest ecosystem, from £7/month (Simple plan). Best if your accountant uses it.
Sage Accounting — best for CIS contractors and VAT-registered businesses, from £15/month.
Zoho Books. Free tier available. Full MTD ITSA support. Best value option.

Our free MTD calculator recommends the best option specifically for your profile — factoring in your income type, accountant use, technology comfort, and budget.

HMRC: full approved software list ↗ • Get your personalised recommendation →

The MTD soft landing is a one-year grace period in 2026–27 where HMRC will not issue penalty points for late quarterly updates. Phase 1 taxpayers only.

What it covers:

No penalty points for late quarterly updates Q1–Q4 in 2026–27
No £200 fine for reaching the 4-point threshold during this period

What it does NOT cover:

Late payment interest — starts from day one regardless
The Final Declaration — miss 31 January 2028 and you receive a penalty point
Phase 2 taxpayers. No confirmed soft landing for those joining April 2027

The soft landing is not an excuse to delay. You still need to be signed up with HMRC and have approved software connected before you send your next quarterly update (due 7 November 2026), and before you can submit your tax return.

Full MTD soft landing guide → • MTD penalties explained → • Check your penalty exposure →

Check if Making Tax Digital applies to you

Everything you need to know about MTD

Get your answer in 5 simple steps

Who must comply, and when

We built what we needed ourselves

Gross vs Net, the MTD threshold explained

MTD rollout: who joins when

Key MTD terms — Plain English

Real questions. Direct answers.