Earning over £30,000 self-employed? Making Tax Digital reaches you in April 2027 — here is your timeline

The first wave of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax went live this April for sole traders and landlords over £50,000, and the sky did not fall — but the next wave is bigger. From 6 April 2027, the threshold drops to £30,000 of qualifying income, pulling in an enormous cohort of part-time landlords, tradespeople and freelancers. A further drop to £20,000 follows in April 2028.

If that might be you, this is your planning article — written a comfortable ten months out, which is exactly the position you want to be in.

First: check whether you are in scope

The test trips people up in three ways:

• It is gross income, not profit. Turnover before expenses. A landlord with £32,000 of rent and £15,000 of costs is in scope.
• It combines self-employment and property. £18,000 of trade plus £14,000 of rent is £32,000 — in scope.
• It is measured from your tax return. Your 2025/26 return — the one due by 31 January 2027 — is what HMRC uses to decide whether MTD applies to you from April 2027. There is a certain irony in a paper-based return enrolling you into digital tax, but that is the mechanism.

If you hover near the line, do not play games with the threshold; plan as if you are in. The £20,000 step in 2028 will catch you anyway.

Your sensible timeline

Now to autumn 2026 — choose and set up software. Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent all handle MTD; contractors and simple sole traders often do best on FreeAgent (frequently free through business bank accounts), landlords and growing trades on Xero or QuickBooks. Setup — bank feeds, categories, receipt capture — is included in our fixed fee.

From April 2026 onwards — run digital records in parallel. Not because you must, but because a full year of live records before your mandatory start means the quarterly rhythm begins as habit, not upheaval. Early adopters from this year's wave confirm it: the ones who practised found go-live a non-event.

31 January 2027 — file 2025/26 as normal. This return sets your MTD status. We flag every client's position when we file.

6 April 2027 — you are in. Quarterly updates due 7 August 2027, then 7 November, 7 February, 7 May. The final declaration for 2027/28 lands 31 January 2029.

What quarterly life is actually like

A summary of income and expense totals per quarter, drawn from your software, submitted in minutes — not four tax returns a year. The accounting adjustments still happen once, at year end. First-wave clients' verdict after one quarter: the record-keeping was the habit change; the updates themselves are trivial.

There is also a genuine exemption route for the digitally excluded — no broadband, disability, religious grounds — but it must be applied for, not assumed.

Why we are writing this in 2026

Because the difference between an easy MTD start and a horrible one is entirely about when you begin. Set up in a quiet month this year and April 2027 is a non-event. Wait until March 2027 and you will be reconstructing a quarter under pressure alongside everyone else who waited.

Tell us your rough income mix in an enquiry from this page and we will confirm your MTD start date and the right software — no obligation, ten-minute answer.