Are you personally caught by MTD outside the partnership?
Your partnership profit share
£
Other sole trader income
£
UK rental income
£
Partnership income is excluded from current MTD waves. This checks whether your other income catches you personally.
If you are a partner in a business partnership or LLP, you have likely been told MTD does not apply to you. That is partially correct — but there is a specific nuance affecting many partners right now that most guides fail to mention.
What is confirmed: partnerships are excluded
General partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships are explicitly excluded from the April 2026 and April 2027 MTD mandation waves. HMRC has confirmed this. Your partnership continues under normal Self Assessment — no quarterly submissions, no MTD software required for the partnership entity.
HMRC has stated partnerships will join MTD "at a later date" but has published no timetable. Monitor gov.uk for the announcement.
✅
Current position: No partnership or LLP has any MTD obligation in 2026 or 2027. Normal Self Assessment partnership filings continue. No quarterly update software is required for partnership income at this time.
The catch — individual partners can still be personally in scope
The MTD exclusion applies to the partnership entity. It does not automatically protect you as an individual if you have qualifying income from other sources.
If you personally earn income outside the partnership — sole trader work, UK rental property — and that income exceeds the MTD threshold, you are personally subject to MTD for those non-partnership streams.
⚠️
Common scenario: A partner in a medical practice with a £90,000 profit share (excluded — partnership not mandated) also has two buy-to-let properties generating £54,000 gross rental income. That rental income personally catches them — mandatory April 2026 for the rental income alone.
📊 Partner with mixed income — personal MTD assessment
Partnership profit share£72,000 — excluded (partnership not mandated)
Direct consultancy outside partnership£18,000
UK rental income (buy-to-let)£16,400
PAYE salaryExcluded
Personal MTD qualifying income£34,400
🟡 Above £30k — personally mandatory April 2027. Partnership income correctly excluded from calculation.
LLP vs general partnership
For MTD purposes the treatment is identical. Both are excluded from current waves. Individual LLP members are assessed the same way as general partnership members for their personal income obligations.
How profit share will work when partnerships eventually join MTD
When HMRC confirms a mandation date, each partner will be assessed on their own allocated profit share — the figure on their SA104 supplementary pages. Not the total partnership turnover or profit. A 40/60 partnership with £150,000 total profits gives Partner A £60,000 qualifying income and Partner B £90,000 — each assessed individually against the threshold in force at that time.
What partners should do now
Check each partner's personal income — anyone with rental or sole trader income above threshold is already personally mandatory
Monitor gov.uk for the partnership announcement — likely in a future Budget or Spring Statement
Consider voluntary adoption — HMRC welcomes early joiners, removes uncertainty
Frequently asked questions
If your guaranteed salary is paid as PAYE by the partnership, that portion is excluded from MTD qualifying income. If you also receive a profit share, that will eventually count when partnerships are mandated. Any sole trader or rental income in your own name counts now under the normal rules.
For the partnership entity itself, no current action needed. However each partner should check individually whether their personal qualifying income from non-partnership sources exceeds the threshold. Ask your accountant to assess each partner's personal MTD position separately.
HMRC has not confirmed the mechanism. A threshold-based rollout similar to sole traders is expected — larger partnerships or those with higher profit-per-partner figures likely mandated first. No details published as of June 2026. Watch gov.uk for announcements.
Check your personal MTD position
As a partner, your personal qualifying income from other sources may already be in scope. Free check — 60 seconds.