By Chris Downing on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
Making Tax Digital (MTD) is the UK government’s flagship programme to make it easier for businesses and individuals to get their tax right. As you might guess from the name, it does this by legislating the digitalisation of tax data and its submission to HMRC. MTD for VAT is already in place, but Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is coming in from April 2026.
In this article, I answer questions that you may have around this, and what it means for your business finances.
What is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is new legislation that changes how income tax is administered.
It affects self-employed individuals and landlords with gross income over certain levels as of the following dates:
April 2026: If you have gross income over £50,000 in the 2024/25 tax year and subsequent threshold dates.
April 2027: If you have gross income over £30,000 in the 2025/26 tax year and subsequent threshold dates.
April 2028: if you have gross income over £20,000 in the 2026 to 2027 tax year and subsequent threshold dates.
Am I affected by MTD for Income Tax?
If you run your