Sources
Every rule this site applies, the HMRC page it came from, and what that page actually says. Last checked 8 August 2026.
If you find something here that does not match what HMRC says today, that is a bug and it matters more than anything else on the site. The rules change; this page is how you can tell whether we have kept up.
Thresholds and dates
| Return tested | Qualifying income over | Mandated from |
|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | £50,000 | 2026-04-06 |
| 2025/26 | £30,000 | 2027-04-06 |
| 2026/27 | £20,000 | 2028-04-06 |
HMRC states qualifying income "over" £50,000 for 2024/25 → 6 April 2026; "over" £30,000 for 2025/26 → 6 April 2027; "over" £20,000 for 2026/27 → 6 April 2028. The word is "over", so exactly the threshold is out — corroborated by the exemptions page: "automatically exempt ... if your qualifying income is £20,000 or less."Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Income that counts
| Self-employment / sole trade | All the money in, before any costs come out."Qualifying income is your total income from self-employment and property. This is the amount before expenses (also known as turnover)".Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| UK property | All the rent, before any costs come out.Property income is named in HMRC’s definition of qualifying income.Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Foreign property | Rent from abroad counts, but only while you live in the UK for tax.HMRC’s excluded list reads "Foreign property income (if not UK tax resident)" — the parenthesis is the whole rule. Residence decides it. This resolves a genuine disagreement in secondary sources; see SOURCES.md.Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
Income that does not count
| Employment income (PAYE) | Wages from a job never count, however much you earn.Listed by HMRC under income that does not count: "employment (PAYE)".Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Share of partnership / LLP profits | Your share of a partnership does not count. Partnerships have not been given a start date at all yet.Listed by HMRC under income that does not count: "your share of profit from a partnership as an individual partner".Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Dividends (including from your own company) | Dividends do not count — including ones you pay yourself out of your own company.Listed by HMRC under income that does not count: "dividends (including those from your own company)".Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Pension income (State or private) | Pensions do not count, state or private.Listed by HMRC under income that does not count: "a State Pension" and "private pensions".Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| UK REIT or Property Authorised Investment Fund income | Property funds do not count. Only property you own yourself does — easy to get wrong, because the name says property.HMRC names "UK Real Estate Investment Trusts (UK REITs) or Property Authorised Investment Funds (PAIFs)" among excluded income.Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Savings interest | Interest on savings does not count.Covered by HMRC’s catch-all: "All other sources of income do not count towards your qualifying income." Not named explicitly.Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Capital gains | Money made from selling something does not count here.Covered by HMRC’s catch-all: "All other sources of income do not count towards your qualifying income." Not named explicitly.Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
Exemptions
The split matters: an automatic exemption needs no action, while an application-based one leaves you in scope until HMRC agrees.
| Exemption | Type | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| No National Insurance number before the start of the tax year | Automatic | You cannot sign up without one, so you are exempt automatically. Nothing to do."You are automatically exempt and cannot sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if you do not have a National Insurance number before the start of the tax year."Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| A trust submitting an SA900 | Automatic | Trusts filing an SA900 are outside MTD, including charitable trusts and non-registered pension scheme trusts. This covers the trust — qualifying income you hold personally is still tested.HMRC lists "trusts submitting an SA900" as automatically exempt.Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Acting as personal representative of someone who has died | Automatic | Automatically exempt for the estate you are administering."You are also automatically exempt from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if you act as a personal representative of someone who has died."Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Lloyd’s member with underwriting business (SA103L) | Automatic | Automatically exempt if you included the SA103L supplementary page as a Lloyd’s member in your 2024/25 return.HMRC: automatically exempt where you included "the SA103L supplementary page as a Lloyd’s member in relation to your underwriting business".Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Digitally excluded | Must apply | For where it is not reasonable for you to use compatible software — disability, religious belief incompatible with digital communication, or no internet access. You must apply and be granted it; qualifying on paper is not the same as being exempt.HMRC lists digital exclusion under exemptions you must apply for, where "it’s not reasonable for you to use compatible software to keep digital records [or] send quarterly updates or submit your tax return."Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Foster or kinship carer claiming qualifying care relief | Must apply | You must apply if you reasonably expect to claim qualifying care relief. Note HMRC has this exemption running only until April 2027 — it is not permanent, and it is not automatic.HMRC lists foster/kinship carers under exemptions requiring application, where you "reasonably expect" to claim qualifying care relief, with the exemption lasting until April 2027.Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
| Non-UK resident needing the SA109 page | Must apply | You must apply if you anticipate needing the SA109 supplementary page because you are non-resident for that tax year.HMRC lists non-UK residents under exemptions requiring application, where you anticipate needing SA109 as "non-resident in the UK in that tax year".Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax |
Deadlines and penalties
- HMRC lists four cumulative update periods, each beginning 6 April, due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May (the following tax year).Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — Send quarterly updates
- "You must submit your tax return by 31 January following the end of the relevant tax year, but you can submit it earlier."Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — Submit your tax return
- "HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates during the 2026 to 2027 tax year." After that, "If you reach 4 points, you’ll get a £200 penalty", with volunteers penalised at 2 points.Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — Send quarterly updates
What we have not confirmed
These rules are applied by the tool but are not confirmed word-for-word on an HMRC page. They are listed rather than hidden.
The £1,000 trading and property allowances, and rent-a-room at £7,500 (£3,750 shared), keep unreported income out of the qualifying income figure.
The allowance amounts are long-standing published rates, and the interaction follows from HMRC assessing qualifying income off the return you submitted. But the MTD guidance pages do not spell the interaction out, so this is our inference.
Three consecutive years of qualifying income below the threshold before you can leave.
Stated by the ATT. Not found word-for-word in HMRC guidance, so the site does not present it as settled.
What changed when we checked HMRC directly
This engine was first built from professional bodies and commercial tax guides. They largely agreed with each other, and were wrong or incomplete in four places. Every one would have shipped as confident, wrong content.
- Update periods are cumulative, not discrete quarters. All four start on 6 April. The deadlines were right; the description of what you are submitting was wrong. Most secondary coverage still gets this wrong.
- Foreign property depends on residence. Sources disagreed, and HMRC settles it — overseas rents are excluded only if not UK tax resident.
- Four automatic exemptions were missing entirely — no National Insurance number, SA900 trusts, personal representatives, and Lloyd’s members filing SA103L.
- The foster and kinship carer exemption must be applied for and runs only to April 2027. We had treated that income as simply not counting, which would have told carers they were automatically outside a regime they are inside.
Every page we used
- Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
- Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
- Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — Send quarterly updates
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — Submit your tax return