Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) begins from 6th April 2026. This is a significant change to the UK tax reporting system and affects how you manage your records and report your income to HMRC.
Who is affected?
From April 2026, MTD for Income Tax applies to:
- Self employed individuals with income over £50,000 per year
- Landlords with property income over £50,000 per year
- From April 2027, the threshold drops to £30,000 – meaning more people will need to comply
What is changing?
Under MTD, you will no longer file a single tax return once a year. Instead, the requirements include:
1. Digital Record Keeping: You must keep your business/property income and expenses records in a digital format (using HMRC-compatible software).
2. Quarterly Updates: You must send a summary of your income and expenses to HMRC every three months through your software. The first return is for the quarter is 1 April – 30 June with the return due by 7 August.
3. Final Declaration: You will still need to provide a final declaration by 31 January following the end of the tax year to finalise your tax position. This is the full tax return submission.
What do you need to do?
1. Register for Making Tax Digital with HMRC. You can do this here: Register for MTD If you do not already have one, you will have to set up an HMRC online account first.
2. Decide on suitable software to enable you to keep records and make submissions.
3. Set up the software.
4. Keep your bookkeeping up to date – I would recommend on a monthly basis at least.
5. Make your submissions quarterly to HMRC.
How can we help?
At Shore Accounting, we already work digitally so moving to MTD is an easy step to make for our clients. We will:
- Advise you on whether and when MTD applies to you
- Set you up with MTD compatible software
- Manage the quarterly submissions on your behalf
- Make sure you never miss a deadline
Don’t wait until April 2026 to think about this. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation conversation about how MTD will affect you and how we can make the transition as smooth as possible
