Making Tax Digital Scope Checker (2026/27)

Will Making Tax Digital affect you? Find out in ten seconds

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is the government's plan to drag tax reporting into the digital age, and for hundreds of thousands of sole traders and landlords it changes everything about how they deal with HMRC. But the rules are being phased in gradually, and there's a great deal of confusion about who has to comply and when. This free checker cuts through it: enter your self-employment and property income, and it tells you instantly whether MTD applies to you and from which tax year.

Getting the answer right matters. If you wrongly think you're exempt, you could miss the start date and face penalties. If you assume you're in scope when you're not, you might pay for software and start filing quarterly updates a year or more before you need to. A few seconds with this tool saves both kinds of mistake.

How the thresholds work

MTD for Income Tax is being introduced in waves, based on your qualifying income - your combined gross income from self-employment and property, before any expenses are deducted:

• Over £50,000: mandated from 6 April 2026 (the 2026/27 tax year)
• Over £30,000: mandated from 6 April 2027 (the 2027/28 tax year)
• Over £20,000: mandated from 6 April 2028 (the 2028/29 tax year)

The word "gross" is the part people trip over. HMRC looks at your turnover - total sales or total rent - not your profit. A landlord receiving £40,000 in rent with a hefty buy-to-let mortgage might make almost no profit, but they're still measured on the £40,000. The same applies to a self-employed courier or hairdresser: it's the money coming in that counts, not what's left after costs. You can read the official definition in HMRC's guidance on checking if you need to sign up for MTD for Income Tax.

What does and doesn't count

Only two types of income count towards the MTD threshold: self-employment (sole trader) income and property income. Crucially, you should not include employment salary taxed through PAYE, dividends, pension income, savings interest, or capital gains. So a teacher who earns £45,000 from their job and £8,000 from a small online shop is nowhere near the threshold on their self-employment income, even though their total income is well over £50,000. Our checker only asks for the two figures that matter, so you won't accidentally include income that doesn't count.

What happens once you're in scope

If the checker tells you MTD applies, here's what changes. You'll need to keep digital records of income and expenses rather than paper or a basic spreadsheet. You'll send HMRC a quarterly update four times a year through compatible software. And you'll replace your annual Self Assessment return with a final declaration after the tax year ends. None of this changes how much tax you pay - the rules for working out your bill are the same - it changes how and how often you report.

The good news is that the day-to-day burden is mostly about record-keeping, and you can handle that for free. Our MTD Quarterly Record Organiser lets you log income and expenses, builds the four quarterly summaries automatically, and exports a CSV - so when you're ready to file you simply feed those figures into your chosen software. Start using it as soon as the checker says you're in scope, and the quarterly deadlines become a non-event.

If you're not in scope yet

Earning under £20,000 from self-employment and property? You're not currently required to use MTD for Income Tax, and you'll carry on with the familiar annual Self Assessment return for now. But there are two reasons not to ignore it. First, the threshold has only ever moved in one direction - downwards - and the government has signalled it intends to bring more people in over time. Second, the habits MTD encourages (digital records, regular bookkeeping, a tax pot) are simply good practice that make your annual return easier and your cash flow more predictable. There's no harm in keeping digital records voluntarily, and our organiser is free to use whether or not you're mandated.

Planning around the change

Knowing your start date lets you plan. If you're in the April 2026 or 2027 waves, give yourself a few months' lead time to choose software, get comfortable with quarterly updates, and tidy up your record-keeping. It's far less stressful to run a "practice" quarter or two before it counts than to learn the system under a live deadline.

While you're thinking about the year ahead, it's worth estimating the tax itself. If you're a sole trader, our Self-Employed Tax Calculator shows your income tax and National Insurance; landlords can use the Rental Income Tax Calculator and the Landlord Organiser to handle the Section 24 mortgage-interest rules. And if part of your tax isn't collected at source, check whether you'll owe payments on account so the January bill doesn't catch you out.

A quick word on accuracy

This checker is a guide based on the published thresholds and start dates. Edge cases exist - for example, how income from a jointly owned property is split, or how a brand-new business is treated in its first year - and HMRC's own guidance is the final word. If your situation is unusual, or you're close to a threshold, it's worth confirming with an accountant or checking directly with HMRC. For the official position, see the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax collection on GOV.UK.

The bottom line

Making Tax Digital is one of those changes that's easy to put off until it's suddenly urgent. The simplest first step is to find out where you stand, and that's all this tool asks of you. Enter your two income figures above, get your answer, and - if you're in scope - head straight to the free Quarterly Record Organiser to start keeping the digital records you'll need. A little preparation now turns a scary-sounding reform into a routine part of running your business.

Worked examples

It helps to see the thresholds applied to real situations. Example one: Priya is a freelance designer with £62,000 of turnover and no property income. She's over £50,000, so she's in the first wave and was mandated from April 2026. Example two: Tom has a single rental flat bringing in £14,000 a year and a part-time job taxed through PAYE. His qualifying income is only £14,000 - under £20,000 - so he isn't mandated at all yet, and his PAYE salary is ignored entirely. Example three: Aisha is a sole trader earning £24,000 from her business and renting out a room elsewhere for £9,000. Her combined qualifying income is £33,000, which puts her in the April 2027 wave (over £30,000).

The pattern is consistent: add up self-employment and property turnover, ignore everything else, and compare the total to the thresholds. Our checker does exactly that, but working through your own numbers by hand once is a good way to be confident in the answer.

What happens if you get it wrong

MTD for Income Tax comes with a points-based penalty system for late quarterly updates and late final declarations, separate from the penalties for paying late. You accumulate points for missed deadlines, and a financial penalty kicks in once you cross a threshold. None of that is a reason to panic - but it is a reason to know your start date and be ready, rather than discovering you were mandated after the first deadline has passed. The detail is on GOV.UK under penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

If you're newly self-employed or have just started letting a property, you generally won't be brought into MTD immediately - there's usually a lag while HMRC assesses your income from a filed return. That said, building good digital habits from day one means you'll never be caught out when you do cross a threshold. Start with our free Quarterly Record Organiser and you'll be ahead of the curve.

Don't forget the tax itself

Knowing you're in scope tells you how to report, but you still want to know what you'll owe. Run your expected profit through the Self Assessment Tax Calculator, and if you're a landlord use the Landlord Organiser to handle Section 24. Keeping a tax pot of 20–30% of profit as you go means the bill - quarterly reporting or not - is always covered.

How often should you check?

Your qualifying income can change from year to year, and so can your MTD status. A good landlord might buy another property; a side-hustle can grow into a full-time business; a quiet trading year can dip you back below a threshold. Because the rules look at your income over a tax year, it's worth re-checking whenever your circumstances shift materially - a new income stream, a property bought or sold, or a big change in turnover. Bookmark this checker and run it again at the start of each tax year, or whenever something changes, so your reporting obligations never take you by surprise.

It's also worth knowing that being in scope is generally "sticky" - once you're brought into MTD, a temporary dip below the threshold doesn't automatically take you out again straight away, though there are rules for leaving if your income stays low. If you're hovering near a threshold, that's a good moment to speak to an accountant, who can confirm your position and help you plan. For the definitive, up-to-date rules, always cross-check against the official GOV.UK guidance, and use this tool for a fast first answer.

Who should use this tool

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to sole traders and landlords above a qualifying income threshold, phased in by income level. This checks whether and when you are caught, which is not obvious because the test uses combined qualifying income.

That combination is the part people miss: self-employment turnover and property income are added together, and it is turnover, not profit. Someone with modest profits from a business plus a rental can be in scope well before they expect, and the obligation is not optional once you are.

What this tool assumes

• Scope is based on combined qualifying income from self-employment and property.
• The test uses gross income before expenses, not profit.
• Thresholds step down over successive years, bringing more people into scope.
• Qualifying income is measured from a prior tax year’s return.

Limitations — what it does not cover

• What being in scope requires: digital records, quarterly updates and a final declaration through compatible software.
• Exemptions, including digital exclusion on grounds of age, disability or location.
• Other income types — employment, dividends, savings — which do not count towards the threshold.
• Partnerships, which join on a separate timetable.
• The points-based penalty regime for late quarterly updates.
• Software cost, which is a new and unavoidable expense.