Am I in Making Tax Digital — and what's due when?

Sole traders and landlords whose qualifying income is over £50,000. Qualifying income is gross turnover from self-employment plus gross rental income, added together and measured before expenses. HMRC works it out from your 2024-25 Self Assessment return, so the figure that decides it is already filed. Around 780,000 people are in this first wave. The threshold drops to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028.

Four a year, each due just over a month after the quarter ends. The standard quarters run 6 April to 5 July, due 7 August; 6 July to 5 October, due 7 November; 6 October to 5 January, due 7 February; and 6 January to 5 April, due 7 May. A final declaration then replaces the Self Assessment return and is due by 31 January as before. The quarterly updates are cumulative, so an error in one can be put right in the next rather than needing an amendment.

It replaces the filing mechanism, not the obligation. Instead of one return after the year end you send four quarterly updates from digital records, then a final declaration that pulls it together and adds anything the quarterly updates don't cover — employment income, dividends, reliefs and so on. That final declaration is due by the same 31 January deadline you're used to.

Gross income from self-employment and from property, before deducting any expenses. Employment income, dividends, pensions and savings interest don't count towards the threshold, although they still appear on your final declaration. If you have both a trade and a rental property, the two are added together — which is how people with modest amounts of each end up in scope sooner than they expect.

MTD uses points rather than automatic fines. You collect a point for each missed submission deadline, and once you reach the threshold for your filing frequency a £200 penalty applies, with a further £200 for each subsequent failure. Points expire after a period of compliance. Late payment penalties are separate and charged as a percentage of the tax outstanding.

Yes — that's the usual answer. We set up the software, connect it to HMRC, take over agent authorisation from your current accountant if you have one, and file the four quarterly updates and the final declaration for you. For most sole traders and landlords it's a fixed monthly fee, and the practical effect is that the quarterly deadlines stop being something you have to think about. Tell us what you need and we'll quote it.