MTD Answers

Making Tax Digital. Are you in?

A landlord and a sole trader, the same question. Two numbers answer it, free, in your browser, and nothing is sent anywhere. Then four dates a year, and £7.99 only if you want it all written down.

Check if I'm in, freeSee it step by step

1The landlord

Rent counts before expenses.

Add up the gross rent, before any expenses, and any self-employment income on top. That one figure, qualifying income, is what decides it. Pay from a job, dividends and pensions do not count.

Example: £34,000 of rent on the 2025 to 2026 return is over £30,000: in from 6 April 2027.

2The sole trader

Turnover, not profit.

For a sole trader it is the same sum: gross self-employment income, before expenses, plus any property income. Over £50,000 on the 2024 to 2025 return means it is already in force.

Example: £58,000 on that return: in from 6 April 2026, first update due 7 August 2026.

3The threshold and the date

Three lines. Three Aprils.

Over £50,000 on the 2024 to 2025 return: in from 6 April 2026. Over £30,000 on 2025 to 2026: from 6 April 2027. Over £20,000 on 2026 to 2027: from 6 April 2028.

£20,000 or less: automatically exempt, unless your circumstances change (HMRC).

4The quarterly deadlines

Four dates. Every quarter.

Quarterly updates are due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, on standard or calendar update periods alike. The tax return still has its own date, 31 January. The deadline calculator works out yours, free.

For 2026 to 2027, the return is due 31 January 2028 (HMRC).

5The HMRC letter

Do nothing, and HMRC signs you up.

HMRC said that from September 2026 it would begin signing up, in stages, people who should be using it for 2026 to 2027 but have not. Being signed up does not change what you owe or when.

No penalty points for late quarterly updates in 2026 to 2027; late returns are not covered (HMRC).

6The checklist

25 checkboxes. One answer.

The MTD Readiness Checklist, £7.99: 25 checkboxes in order, a scored verdict and a 30-day action plan with numbered steps. The first 6 are free on its page, before the price.

One payment. No subscription.

7Done on time

Written down. Done on time.

What is done, what is not, and your four dates somewhere other than your head. The updates themselves go from HMRC-recognised software, some of it free, and signing up is free at GOV.UK.

Nobody here files anything for you. Not tax advice.

Your figures. Your dates. Your list.

Nobody in the middle: the checker runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere, signing up is free at GOV.UK, and we charge nothing for anything HMRC provides free. The one thing sold here is the checklist.

Am I in? Free

Two numbers, about a minute, and nothing is sent anywhere. Check my position

Your four dates, free

Every update period and deadline for your tax year, and the tax return. Work out my dates

The first 6 checkpoints, free

The checklist's opening section, scored on the page. Nothing stored, no email box. Tick them now

Sign up, free

At GOV.UK, with your Government Gateway user ID. We are not HMRC and cannot sign you up. HMRC sign-up guidance

Free to check. £7.99 to write it down.

Every answer on this site is free and stays free. The checklist is for the evening after the check says you are in.

Free
£0no account, no email
  • Whether you are in, and from which April
  • Your four quarterly dates and the tax return date
  • The first 6 checkpoints of the checklist
  • Every answer on the site, sourced to GOV.UK
Check if I'm in
MTD Readiness Checklist
£7.99once
  • 25 checkboxes, ending in a written list of done and not done
  • A scored verdict: ready, partly ready, or not ready
  • A 30-day action plan with numbered steps
  • One PDF, on screen the moment you pay

One payment. No subscription. No monthly fee. Not tax advice, not software and not a way to sign up or file anything.

See the free six, then the price
Start with the free six checkpoints

Six tickboxes on the page, scored as you tick, before anything is priced. Not sure you are in? Check first, free.

The thresholds and start dates are HMRC's, from Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax; the quarterly dates from Send quarterly updates; the first-year rule from Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. HMRC announced the sign-ups in its news release of 12 August 2026 (436,000 sole traders and landlords make their tax digital), and its guidance for people it has signed up was published on 24 August 2026 and updated on 11 September 2026 (Check what to do if HMRC has signed you up). The site's answers were checked against GOV.UK on 7 October 2026.

The phone screens are examples. The two incomes on them are worked examples, run through the site's own checker and deadline calculator, not a customer's figures; the checklist screens are drawn, and the verdict on the last one is an example, not a result.

General information about UK tax rules, not tax advice. Your own circumstances and HMRC's official guidance govern your position. MTD Answers is independent and not affiliated with HMRC, any government department or any software provider.

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