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Making Tax Digital: what sole traders and landlords must do now.

The biggest change to self-employed tax in a generation is already live. Here is what it means — in plain English.

By Abdirisaaq Abdi · 12 June 2026 · 5 minute read

HMRC didn't ask if you were ready.

On 6 April 2026, the way self-employed people and landlords report tax changed for the first time in a generation. Not a tweak. Not a new form. A different rhythm entirely.

It's called Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. And if it applies to you, your first deadline is 7 August 2026.

That's weeks away, not months.

What actually changed

For twenty years, self assessment worked like this: do what you like all year, then face one painful reckoning every January.

That world is ending. Under MTD, you must do three things differently:

  • Keep digital records. A shoebox of receipts no longer counts. Neither does a paper ledger. Your records must live in MTD-compatible software.
  • Send quarterly updates. Four times a year, your software sends HMRC a summary of income and expenses. Deadlines: 7 August, 7 November, 7 February, 7 May.
  • File a final declaration. Still due 31 January — but now it's a confirmation of figures HMRC has watched build all year, not a January archaeology dig.

Who's in — and when

The test is your gross income from self-employment and property combined — turnover, not profit. And HMRC looks backwards, at the tax return you've already filed:

  • Over £50,000 on your 2024/25 return → you're in now (from April 2026)
  • Over £30,000 → you join in April 2027
  • Over £20,000 → you join in April 2028

Read that first line again. A landlord with £22,000 of rent and a side business turning over £29,000 is over the line. Combined. Most people caught by this don't feel like "big businesses". That's exactly why they'll be caught unprepared.

The threshold isn't about how big you are. It's about how soon the system comes for you.

The grace period trap

HMRC is being gentle — on paper. For your first 12 months, late quarterly updates won't earn penalty points.

Here's the trap: gentle deadlines build sloppy habits. The businesses that treat year one as optional will hit year two — when points and fines are real — with a backlog, bad records and no rhythm.

The grace period isn't a pass to ignore MTD. It's a free practice season. Use it like one.

What to do this week

  • Check your 2024/25 number. Open last year's return. Add gross self-employment turnover to gross rents. Over £50k, you should already be in the system. Over £30k, your clock runs out in April.
  • Get on real software. Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent — the brand matters less than starting now, while mistakes are free.
  • Build the monthly habit. One hour a month keeping records current beats twelve hours of panic each quarter. Or hand it to someone who does this every day.

The bigger truth

Here's what twenty years in this profession has taught me: financial systems don't punish the dishonest half as often as they punish the unprepared.

MTD will be a non-event for people who get organised early. It will be expensive and stressful for people who don't. Same rules. Same deadlines. The only difference is who understood the system before it arrived.

Be in the first group.