Scope: Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies across the UK. Figures stated for the 2026/27 tax year, verified against HMRC guidance on 8 August 2026.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is live. It started on 6 April 2026, and the single most common mistake is a landlord deciding they are outside it on the wrong number.
Qualifying income is GROSS, not profit
This is the thing to get right before anything else. HMRC’s definition:
“Qualifying income is your total income from self-employment and property. This is the amount before expenses (also known as turnover), based on the tax return you submitted in the previous tax year.”
Before expenses. Not profit, not taxable income, not what reaches your bank after the mortgage. A landlord with £55,000 of rent and £40,000 of costs has a £15,000 profit and £55,000 of qualifying income. They are in.
It also combines self-employment and property. A landlord with £30,000 of rent and £25,000 of sole-trader turnover has £55,000 of qualifying income even though neither source reaches the threshold alone.
The thresholds and when each bites
| From | Qualifying income over |
|---|---|
| 6 April 2026 | £50,000 |
| 6 April 2027 | £30,000 |
| 6 April 2028 | £20,000 |
HMRC has confirmed all three. The April 2028 reduction to £20,000 was announced and is expected to bring in roughly a further 970,000 sole traders and landlords.
Which year is tested
The threshold is tested on the previous tax return, not the current year. For April 2026, HMRC reviewed the 2024 to 2025 Self Assessment return. So the decision was made on income you declared before MTD existed, and a landlord who has since sold a property is still in for the year.
What you actually have to do
- Keep digital records of income and expenses in MTD-compatible software. A spreadsheet alone is not enough unless it is bridged to compatible software.
- Send quarterly updates to HMRC through that software.
- Submit a final declaration after the tax year ends, replacing the Self Assessment return for the businesses inside MTD.
The obligations sit in the Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026.
Quarterly updates are not four tax returns
A quarterly update is a summary of income and expenses for the period, by category. It is not a calculation, you do not claim reliefs in it, and it does not create a payment. Adjustments, reliefs and the actual tax all happen at the final declaration. A landlord expecting to compute section 24 relief four times a year is expecting the wrong thing.
What this means for record-keeping
The practical change is not the quarterly submission — software does that in a few clicks. It is that records must be digital and current. A shoebox reconciled in January no longer works, because the January reconciliation now has to have happened four times already.
Each property business is reported separately, so a landlord with UK property and a furnished holiday let, or UK and overseas property, has more than one set of records to keep apart.
Jointly owned property
Your share of the gross rents counts towards your qualifying income, not the whole. See joint ownership and the 50/50 rule, which decides what that share is — and it is not always what you assume.
The dates are the work. Landlord HQ tracks certificate and compliance deadlines per property so the tax deadlines are not competing for the same attention. Check what applies to yours.
Information tool, not tax advice. Rates and thresholds change; check the position for your own tax year and take advice on your circumstances.