Am I affected by MTD?

What "qualifying income" actually means

Only two income sources count toward the MTD threshold: self-employment (sole-trader trading income) and property (rental income). Employment salary, dividends, interest, capital gains, and pensions do NOT count, even if they push your total income well above £50,000.

A few examples:

• £40,000 salary + £15,000 freelance = £15,000 qualifying. NOT mandated yet.
• £20,000 salary + £35,000 self-employment = £35,000 qualifying. Mandated from April 2027 (the £30k threshold).
• £200,000 dividends + £25,000 property = £25,000 qualifying. Not mandated yet — the dividend income doesn't count.
• £30,000 self-employment + £25,000 rental = £55,000 qualifying. Mandated from April 2026 (the £50k threshold) for the 2024/25 figures.

If you have BOTH self-employment AND property, you add them together — they're both "qualifying income" and HMRC checks the combined total against the threshold.

What MTD actually requires you to do

Three things change versus the old Self Assessment system:

• Digital records — you must keep your business income and expenses in MTD-compatible software (a spreadsheet alone doesn't count unless it's bridged via approved software). Receipt-by-receipt or summary entries depending on income source.
• Quarterly updates — four short submissions a year (5 July, 5 October, 5 January, 5 April), each summarising the previous three months of income and expenses. These are not full tax returns; they're cumulative figures.
• A final declaration — replaces the old annual Self Assessment return. You confirm the year's totals, declare any other income (employment, interest, dividends), and HMRC issues your tax bill. Due 31 January after the tax year ends, same as Self Assessment was.

In practice, if your bookkeeping is already digital and up-to-date, MTD adds five extra clicks four times a year. If you're a shoebox-and-spreadsheet operation in January, MTD is a forcing function to digitise.

When you’re mandated — the three-stage rollout

HMRC is phasing MTD in based on your qualifying income in the relevant tax year:

• £50,000+ in 2024/25 → mandated from 6 April 2026 (this wave is now live — file your first quarterly update for the period to 5 July 2026)
• £30,000+ in 2025/26 → mandated from 6 April 2027
• £20,000+ in 2026/27 → mandated from 6 April 2028

The checker on this page uses your CURRENT qualifying income as a proxy. The actual rule looks at your qualifying income two tax years before the mandation date — so HMRC compares your 2024/25 numbers to decide if you're mandated from April 2026, not your 2026/27 numbers. If your income has dropped recently, you may still be mandated based on a higher previous year.

Who is NOT mandated

Even with qualifying income above the threshold, some groups are excluded:

• Partnerships — HMRC has not announced a mandation date yet (originally planned for April 2025, deferred indefinitely)
• Limited companies — Corporation Tax has its own MTD timeline, not the ITSA rollout
• Trustees, personal representatives of estates, non-resident landlords (with caveats)
• People who can claim a digital exclusion exemption — typically because of disability, age, location with no reliable internet, or religious objection. You apply via the GOV.UK exemption form
• Foster carers and shared lives carers (their qualifying income is excluded by structure)

If you're in one of these groups, the checker will still tell you the threshold maths — but you can ignore the result.