From 6 April 2026, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA) officially begins its phased rollout.
This will be a significant change in how self-employed individuals and landlords report income to HMRC.
Who does this apply to?
From April 2026, anyone who is self-employed and landlords who have a combined gross income of over £50,000 will be required to comply with MTD rules.
This includes individuals earning over £50,000 in total from self-employment, UK property, or overseas property.
If your income is under £50,000, you’re not affected until April 2027 when all those earning over £30,000 will need to comply.
Those earning under £30,000 will need to comply later and the current planned date is April 2028.
At this stage if you are a Director of a Limited Company, this change does not effect you unless you also a landlord or have a second sole trader business (If in doubt – speak to your accountant or drop us a message)
What you will need to do?
If you have a combined gross income of over £50,000, from April 2026 you must:
- Maintain digital records using MTD-compatible software
- Send quarterly updates to HMRC summarizing your business/property income and expenses
- Submit a final end-of-year declaration. This will replace the current Self Assessment return
So this means instead of one Self Assessment tax return you’ll start submitting four quarterly updates for the 2026/27 tax year beginning April 2026.
The first quarterly update will be due early August 2026 which will cover April 2026 to June 2026.
What do you need to do now?
Now is a good time to review your total income. Is your combined gross income over £50,000? If so, then MTD applies to you from April 2026.
You will need to choose compatible accounting software. A popular option is Xero.
Talk to your accountant. If you need to know more or how we can help you then contact us at PPF
p.s – Check out our upcoming Free Webinar on Friday 12th September – Making Tax Digital (MTD) Mastery – Get Ready for April 2026 Without the Stress
