MTD for income tax rollout delayed to April 2026

The requirement for self-employed individuals and landlords to use Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax has been delayed to April 2026, according to Which?, which reported the change on 22 December 2022¹. The scheme had previously been scheduled to start in 2024, itself a delay from an original 2023 launch, which was postponed to give people whose livelihoods were disrupted by Covid-19 more time to prepare¹.

Under the revised timetable, MTD will be extended on 6 April 2026 to self-employed individuals and landlords with business and/or property turnover or gross income over £50,000 a year, described as profits before the deduction of allowable expenses¹. It will then apply to those with income of between £30,000 and £50,000 from April 2027¹.

MTD replaces the annual self-assessment return with digital records and summaries sent to HMRC every three months, filed using HMRC-approved software¹. Once a quarterly summary is submitted, the taxpayer receives an estimate of the tax due, but payment is not required until the usual 31 January deadline of the following calendar year¹. The quarterly summaries are updates rather than tax returns; a final report must be sent by 31 January, at which point the year's final tax bill is calculated¹. Plans to allow people to pay tax voluntarily throughout the year are still being decided¹.

All UK residents registered for self-assessment before 6 April 2025 who meet the income threshold will need to sign up and declare domestic and foreign earnings; those living abroad only use MTD to declare UK income¹. Anyone who started earning income as a sole trader or landlord on or after 6 April 2025 will not have to join until they have filed their first self-assessment tax return¹. Most customers will be able to join voluntarily beforehand¹. No decision has been made on mandating MTD for those with income below £30,000; a review into the needs of smaller businesses is due to conclude at the end of 2023, after which the government will set out plans for extending the scheme to that group¹. Companies paying corporation tax will also eventually join MTD, but not until 2026¹.

Why it matters for households

The delay moves the start date for quarterly digital reporting for around 4.2 million self-assessment taxpayers¹. For those above the £50,000 threshold, the change takes effect from 6 April 2026; for those earning between £30,000 and £50,000, from April 2027. The main payment deadlines are unchanged: 31 January remains the date for finalising tax affairs and making balancing payments, and payments on account remain due on 31 January and 31 July¹. Business records such as receipts, invoices and bank statements must still be kept, as HMRC can request them during an investigation¹.

Late submission of quarterly summaries carries penalties, though Which? reports these are less severe than those for a late tax return or late tax payment¹. The system adds a point each time a deadline is missed, similar to speeding fines, and an automatic £200 fine applies once a certain number of points is reached; the threshold varies with how often submissions are required¹. Points accrue separately for MTD for VAT and income tax, so exceeding the threshold for both could mean two £200 fines¹. No fine applies to those excluded from MTD, including people already exempt from filing a self-assessment tax return online or whose turnover is below the specified threshold¹.

What happens next

The review into smaller businesses with income below £30,000 is due to end in 2023, after which the government will lay out plans for how MTD will be extended to include that group¹. Details of voluntary payments throughout the year are still being decided¹.