# Making Tax Digital Qualifying Income Calculator: Is Your Turnover and Rent Over £50,000, £30,000 or £20,000?

> See which of your income counts towards Making Tax Digital, and why. Turnover and your share of rent are added before expenses, a part year is scaled to a full one, and the total is tested against the April it decides.

- Page: https://makingtaxdigitalcalculator.co.uk/making-tax-digital-qualifying-income-calculator/
- Published: 6 November 2026 (2026-11-06T17:47:23+00:00)
- Updated: 6 November 2026 (2026-11-06T19:08:41+00:00)
- Checked: 6 November 2026 (the newest day this page says its figures were checked)
- Published by: Piyush Choudhary (https://makingtaxdigitalcalculator.co.uk/about/#publisher)
- Reviewer: Deepika Jhajharia (https://makingtaxdigitalcalculator.co.uk/about/#reviewer-deepika-jhajharia)
- How we check the figures: https://makingtaxdigitalcalculator.co.uk/how-we-check/
- How we write the pages: https://makingtaxdigitalcalculator.co.uk/editorial-policy/
- Corrections: https://makingtaxdigitalcalculator.co.uk/corrections/
- Contact: https://makingtaxdigitalcalculator.co.uk/contact/
- General information, not tax advice: HMRC decides what applies to you. For your own case, ask HMRC or a tax adviser.
- An independent Making Tax Digital calculator for UK sole traders and landlords: whether Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to you, from which April, and what it means. Not HMRC, and not a government website. Every figure is from GOV.UK, HMRC or legislation.gov.uk, with the day it was checked.

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Your qualifying income is your self-employed turnover plus your share of any rent, in the UK or abroad, before a penny of expenses comes off. Ring up each business, each let and anything else you’re paid, and the till prints what counts, what’s left out and HMRC’s reason for each. This page is for that figure. [The calculator on the homepage](/) takes your turnover and rent for one year and goes on to the April you start, your first year’s dates and what a late update costs.

The receipt for the figures on the till

Qualifying income

Tax year 2025–26

6 Apr 2025 to 5 Apr 2026

Decides April 2027

1. 01 Self-employment £25,000 Dog grooming Counts. Self-employment income counts, taken before expenses (your turnover).
2. 02 UK property £6,600 Flat, owned with her brother · half of £13,200 rent Counts. UK property income counts, taken before expenses. If you own a property with someone else, only your share counts.
3. 03 Wages (PAYE) –Weekend job · £9,800, not added Left out. Pay from a job taxed through PAYE does not count.

Qualifying income

£31,600

Test for April 2027 caught if more than £30,000

Over by £1,600

In from 6 April 2027 at the latest. An earlier tax return could bring an earlier April.

Q counts · X left out

An estimate, not advice. HMRC decides.

Nothing you type leaves this page.

### Notes on this receipt

Nothing on this receipt needs a note. Every line follows HMRC’s guidance as written.

Sources: [Taxes Management Act 1970, Schedule A1 (Digital reporting and record-keeping)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/schedule/A1) (legislation.gov.uk); [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk); [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Create digital records](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/create-digital-records) (GOV.UK); and 4 more. Checked 6 November 2026.

All 7 sources

1. [Taxes Management Act 1970, Schedule A1 (Digital reporting and record-keeping)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/schedule/A1) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
2. [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
3. [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Create digital records](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/create-digital-records) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
4. [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Add or cease income sources](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/add-or-cease-income-sources) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
5. [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
6. [Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-and-when-you-need-to-use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
7. [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the first time](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/using-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-for-the-first-time) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026

## What is qualifying income for Making Tax Digital?

It’s the total of your income from self-employment and from property, taken before expenses. HMRC calls that figure your turnover. Profit doesn’t come into it, so a business that spends most of what it takes still counts in full. A café that took £48,000 and spent £41,000 on stock, staff and rent made £7,000, but its qualifying income is £48,000.

The law says the same in its own words. Regulation 25 of the Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026 adds up the income from each “relevant activity” you carry on, and regulation 26 takes each one “before any deductions”. A relevant activity is a trade, profession or vocation you carry on yourself, or a property business. Where a return doesn’t ask for the figure before expenses, the amount after them is used.

The figure comes off a return you’ve already sent, not off this year’s books. HMRC checks each Self Assessment return and writes to people whose qualifying income is over the threshold. It also says you should check the figure yourself, and not getting a letter doesn’t mean you’re out.

The till opens with Priya’s figures. She grooms dogs, with turnover of £25,000. She owns half of a flat that she and her brother let for £13,200 a year, and she works weekends for £9,800 through PAYE. Her qualifying income is £31,600, which is all of her grooming turnover and half of the rent. The weekend job is left out. That’s more than £30,000, so if her return for 2025–26 shows the same, she’s in from 6 April 2027 at the latest. Her first quarterly updates and their dates are on [our deadlines page](/making-tax-digital-deadlines/).

Sources: [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk); [Taxes Management Act 1970, Schedule A1 (Digital reporting and record-keeping)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/schedule/A1) (legislation.gov.uk); [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK); and 1 more. Checked 6 November 2026.

All 4 sources

1. [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
2. [Taxes Management Act 1970, Schedule A1 (Digital reporting and record-keeping)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/schedule/A1) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
3. [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
4. [Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-and-when-you-need-to-use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026

## Do you add several businesses together?

Yes. Every business you run as a sole trader goes in, and so does all your rent. HMRC’s own example has £25,000 of rent and £27,000 of self-employment income, which makes qualifying income of £52,000. Neither would be over £50,000 on its own. Together they are, so on a return for 2024–25 they’d bring someone in from 6 April 2026.

All your lets in the UK make one property business, however many flats or houses there are, and furnished holiday lets are now part of it. All your lets abroad make another. So a second flat isn’t a new business, and its rent joins the first. Each sole trade is a business of its own. A dog groomer who also sells at a weekend market has two lines on the till. A landlord with six flats has one.

Sources: [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk); [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK); [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Add or cease income sources](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/add-or-cease-income-sources) (GOV.UK). Checked 6 November 2026.

## Do you count all the rent from a jointly owned property?

No, only your share. If you own a let with someone else, your share of the rent before expenses is your qualifying income from it, and the other owners count theirs. HMRC’s example is a property owned equally with a sibling that brings in £50,000 a year, where neither of you is self-employed. The qualifying income is £25,000 each.

On the till, type the rent for the whole property and pick half, a third or a quarter, or type a percentage. Use your share of the income from it.

Some owners never see the gross rent. A managing agent, or the other owners, may only tell you your share once expenses are paid. HMRC says that in that case it uses that figure, so put it in and choose “I’m only told my share after expenses”. Sara owns a quarter of a holiday flat, and the agent sends her £2,100 a year after expenses. With £17,400 from hairdressing, her qualifying income for 2026–27 is £19,500. That’s under £20,000, so that return doesn’t bring her in.

Her flat is a furnished holiday let, which counts as property income. HMRC’s page on qualifying income doesn’t mention holiday lets, but its toolkit for agents counts them, and its guidance puts them in the UK property business.

Sources: [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK); [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Create digital records](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/create-digital-records) (GOV.UK); [Get ready for MTD: an agent toolkit – Planning](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-ready-for-mtd-an-agent-toolkit/planning) (GOV.UK); and 1 more. Checked 6 November 2026.

All 4 sources

1. [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
2. [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Create digital records](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/create-digital-records) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
3. [Get ready for MTD: an agent toolkit – Planning](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-ready-for-mtd-an-agent-toolkit/planning) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
4. [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Add or cease income sources](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/add-or-cease-income-sources) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026

## Does foreign rental income count?

It does if you were UK resident for that tax year. HMRC’s example is a UK sole trader who also lets out a property in France, and both count. If you weren’t UK resident, only your UK property income counts, along with self-employment income you declared on your UK return. Rent from abroad is left out, and so is self-employment you didn’t declare here.

Mark lives in Leeds. He designs websites for £21,000 a year and lets a flat in Lyon for £11,000. As a UK resident his qualifying income is £32,000. Untick “UK resident” on the till and the Lyon rent drops off the receipt.

Residence only decides what counts here. Whether someone who lives abroad is exempt is a different question from their qualifying income, and the till doesn’t answer it.

Sources: [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK); [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Add or cease income sources](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/add-or-cease-income-sources) (GOV.UK). Checked 6 November 2026.

## What if you only traded for part of the year?

Your income is scaled up to a full year, in proportion to how long it ran. HMRC’s example is a new sole trader who has traded for six months of their first tax year. HMRC doubles the income to find the qualifying income. It says it will do this for sole traders if it has the information. Landlords have to do it themselves.

The law behind it is regulation 26(d). If a person’s qualifying income for a tax year is for a period other than 12 months, it’s adjusted in proportion to the length of that period, or on a just and reasonable basis if that would work unfairly. We count months, and part of a month by its days, which gives HMRC’s doubling exactly. HMRC may measure a part month a little differently.

### When one source ran all year and another didn’t

Here HMRC’s guidance stops short, and it matters most to people near a threshold. Regulation 26(d) scales “a person’s qualifying income”, and regulation 25 makes that the total from all their activities. We read that as your income as a whole. If any of it ran all year, your year is already full and nothing is scaled up. If all of it ran for part of the year, it’s scaled by the months it covered together, counting an overlap once and leaving a gap out. That’s our reading of the law. HMRC hasn’t said it in terms.

HMRC’s own example of a property sold part-way through the year fits it. The rent, it says, still counts, and nothing in the example scales it up. The other way to read the guidance is to scale each business on its own, as HMRC’s sentence about a new sole trader could suggest. Wherever the two give different totals, the receipt and the loom below show both.

Tom has let a flat all year for £14,400, and started plumbing in October. By the end of the tax year the plumbing had taken £9,000. On our reading his qualifying income for 2025–26 is £23,400, which is under £30,000. Scaled business by business, the plumbing doubles to £18,000 and the total is £32,400, which is over it. If your two totals land either side of a threshold, as Tom’s do, ask HMRC which it applies before you decide you’re out.

Jas shows the gap rule. She ran a market stall from April to September and took £8,000, then drove deliveries from January and took £6,000. Her income covered nine months, so on our reading all of it is scaled by twelve ninths, to £18,666.67. Scaled business by business, the stall doubles and the deliveries are multiplied by four, which makes £40,000. A gap in the year is where the two readings drift furthest apart.

Income that came in, woven into the months it ran. The stretch to a full year, lifted off the cloth, because it’s arithmetic and not money that came in.

| Example | Tax year | Months with income | As a whole (our reading) | Each business alone |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Jas**, two stints, a gap between Market stall £8,000, Van deliveries £6,000 | 2026–27 | 9 | £18,666.67 not over £20,000 | £40,000 over £20,000 |
| **Tom**, a flat all year, a trade from October Flat £14,400, Plumbing £9,000 | 2025–26 | 12 | £23,400 not over £30,000 | £32,400 over £30,000 |
| **Six months**, HMRC’s rule, with our figures New business £16,000 | 2025–26 | 6 | £32,000 over £30,000 | £32,000 over £30,000 |
| **Ann**, sold her flat in October Bookkeeping £22,000, Flat, sold in October £4,800 | 2026–27 | 12 | £26,800 over £20,000 | £31,600 over £20,000 |

Sources: [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk); [Taxes Management Act 1970, Schedule A1 (Digital reporting and record-keeping)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/schedule/A1) (legislation.gov.uk); [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK); and 1 more. Checked 6 November 2026.

All 4 sources

1. [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
2. [Taxes Management Act 1970, Schedule A1 (Digital reporting and record-keeping)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/schedule/A1) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
3. [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
4. [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Add or cease income sources](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/add-or-cease-income-sources) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026

The loom draws each business as a thread across the months it ran, as thick as its income each month. Stretching a thread over months it missed, at the same thickness, is exactly what scaling does. The extra length is the extra income, and none of it was ever received, which is why it sits above the cloth and not in it. Switch between the two readings to see where each one lays the stretch.

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) on YouTube 14 July 2026 · 13 min 25 s **Who Does Making Tax Digital apply to?** The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (an initiative of the Chartered Institute of Taxation) walks through the three thresholds and what counts as qualifying income, with worked examples. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPiwb7J2E0E)

## What doesn’t count towards qualifying income?

Anything that isn’t self-employment or property income is left out. HMRC names pay from a job taxed through PAYE, your share of a partnership’s profit, dividends (including those from your own company), the State Pension and private pensions. It says all other income is left out too, and that takes in savings interest.

Every kind of income on a Self Assessment tax return

Every kind of income in our rules, sorted into what counts towards qualifying income, what counts only sometimes, and what is left out. The reasons are listed below.

### Every kind, and HMRC’s reason

Counts **A business you run yourself.** Self-employment income counts, taken before expenses (your turnover). **Rent from UK property.** UK property income counts, taken before expenses. If you own a property with someone else, only your share counts. **Personal income a partnership tells you about.** Personal self-employment or property income that a partnership tells you about does count, for example disguised investment management fees or income-based carried interest. **Trading or rent income from a bare trust.** Property or trading income you are entitled to from a bare trust counts, and so does such income from an interest in possession trust that is paid straight to you. It depends **Rent from property abroad.** Foreign property income counts if you were UK resident for the tax year. If you were not, it does not. **Profits from dealing in UK land.** Income treated as trading profits under the transactions in UK land rules counts if it continues over more than one tax year. A one-off within one tax year does not count. Left out **Wages from a job (PAYE).** Pay from a job taxed through PAYE does not count. **Your share of a partnership’s profit.** Your share of a partnership’s profit does not count. You still put it on your tax return. **Dividends.** Dividends do not count, including dividends from your own company. **State Pension.** The State Pension does not count. **A private pension.** Private pensions do not count. **Savings interest.** Savings interest does not count. HMRC says all income other than self-employment and property is left out. **Transition profits (basis period reform).** Transition profits from basis period reform do not count. **Foster care and other qualifying care receipts.** Qualifying care receipts (qualifying care relief, for example foster care) do not count. **Income from a REIT or PAIF.** Income from UK REITs or PAIFs does not count. **Lloyd’s underwriting.** A Lloyd’s member’s underwriting business is outside Making Tax Digital. **Income you receive as a trustee.** Income you receive as a trustee, in that role, does not count towards your own qualifying income. **Anything else.** HMRC says all other sources of income do not count.

Sources: [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk); [Taxes Management Act 1970, Schedule A1 (Digital reporting and record-keeping)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/schedule/A1) (legislation.gov.uk); [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK); and 2 more. Checked 6 November 2026.

All 5 sources

1. [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
2. [Taxes Management Act 1970, Schedule A1 (Digital reporting and record-keeping)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/schedule/A1) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
3. [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
4. [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Add or cease income sources](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/add-or-cease-income-sources) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
5. [Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-can-get-an-exemption-from-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026

Leaving them out of the test doesn’t change what goes on your tax return. A partner still puts their share of the partnership’s profit on it, for example. It just isn’t part of the figure that decides when you start. And someone whose only income is wages and a pension has no qualifying income at all, however much they’re paid.

A few kinds count where you might not expect them to. Personal income that a partnership tells you about, such as disguised investment management fees or income-based carried interest, counts. So does trading or property income from a bare trust, and from an interest in possession trust when it’s paid straight to you. Profits from dealing in UK land count if they carry on over more than one tax year, but a one-off deal doesn’t. Averaging relief, which farmers and creative artists can claim, doesn’t change your qualifying income.

## What if an income source stopped?

A source that stopped still counts if you carry on with another one. HMRC’s example is someone self-employed who also let a property and then sold it. Because the self-employment carries on, the rent from before the sale still counts.

Ann keeps the books for local firms, with turnover of £22,000 in 2026–27. She sold her flat in October, after £4,800 of rent. Her qualifying income is £26,800. Nothing is scaled up, because her bookkeeping ran all year. Scaled business by business, the rent would be doubled and her total would be £31,600. Both are over £20,000, so for Ann the reading makes no difference.

If everything stopped, it’s different. HMRC says that if all your self-employment and property income stopped before 6 April 2026, you don’t need to use Making Tax Digital. You must tell HMRC, though, or it will sign you up from the information it has, and you still send that year’s tax return. HMRC gives this rule only for income that stopped before that date. We read the later Aprils the same way, and the receipt says so when every line on it has stopped.

Source: [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK). Checked 6 November 2026.

## Do you include VAT in your turnover?

Only if you declared it. If you use the cash basis and you’re VAT registered, you can choose whether the business income you declare includes VAT. HMRC says that if you include it, it counts towards your qualifying income. So the figure to put on the till is the one on your return, VAT and all if that’s how you declared it. Tick the VAT box on that line and the receipt notes it.

Source: [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK). Checked 6 November 2026.

## Which tax return decides which April?

Each April is decided by the return for the tax year 2 years before it. Your qualifying income on that return has to be more than the threshold for that April.

| Qualifying income more than | On your tax return for | You start |
| --- | --- | --- |
| £50,000 | 2024–25 | 6 April 2026 |
| £30,000 | 2025–26 | 6 April 2027 |
| £20,000 | 2026–27 | 6 April 2028 |

Sources: [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk); [Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-and-when-you-need-to-use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK); and 3 more. Checked 6 November 2026.

All 5 sources

1. [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
2. [Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-and-when-you-need-to-use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
3. [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the first time](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/using-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-for-the-first-time) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
4. [Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-can-get-an-exemption-from-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
5. [SALF1440 – Self Assessment: the legal framework: Exemptions: Exemptions by reference to amount of income](https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/self-assessment-legal-framework/salf1440) (HMRC manual), checked 6 November 2026

Pick a tax year at the top of the till and the receipt is tested against the April it decides. Once you’re in, a lower income later doesn’t take you out straight away, so a single receipt only says whether that one return brings you in. [The calculator on our homepage](/) puts the three returns together and gives you a start date. From there, [the deadlines page](/making-tax-digital-deadlines/) lists every quarterly update and return for your first year, and [the penalties calculator](/making-tax-digital-penalties-calculator/) shows what a late one would cost.

Changing a return can change the answer. If you amend it before the tax year it decides has started, the new figure counts, whichever way it goes. After that tax year starts, an amendment that takes you under the threshold means you don’t need Making Tax Digital for that year. One that takes you over isn’t counted for that year.

Sources: [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk); [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK); [Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-and-when-you-need-to-use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK). Checked 6 November 2026.

## What if your income is exactly the threshold?

Then you’re not caught. The law brings you in only if your qualifying income is more than the amount, and GOV.UK says “over” too. A joiner whose turnover for 2025–26 is exactly £30,000 isn’t brought in by that return. HMRC’s manual, SALF1440, words the test as income “below” the amount, which reads differently right on the line. The law decides, so we follow it, and the receipt prints a note whenever a total sits exactly on a threshold.

Sources: [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk); [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the first time](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/using-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-for-the-first-time) (GOV.UK); [Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-can-get-an-exemption-from-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK); and 2 more. Checked 6 November 2026.

All 5 sources

1. [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made) (legislation.gov.uk), checked 6 November 2026
2. [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the first time](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/using-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-for-the-first-time) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
3. [Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-can-get-an-exemption-from-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
4. [Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-and-when-you-need-to-use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax) (GOV.UK), checked 6 November 2026
5. [SALF1440 – Self Assessment: the legal framework: Exemptions: Exemptions by reference to amount of income](https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/self-assessment-legal-framework/salf1440) (HMRC manual), checked 6 November 2026

## How the till works out your figure

It runs in your browser, on the same rules as every other page on this site, and nothing you type leaves the page. Each line is checked against HMRC’s list of what counts and your share of any let is taken. Everything that counts is added up. Part-year income is scaled when all of it ran for part of the year, and the total is tested against the threshold as the law words it, “more than” and not “at least”.

It answers one question, which is your qualifying income for one tax year. It doesn’t look at exemptions, at accounting periods that don’t match the tax year, or at accounts that cover more than a year. It’s an estimate, not advice, and HMRC decides. If you don’t think you need to use Making Tax Digital, HMRC asks you to contact it.

## Official pages this page cites

- [Taxes Management Act 1970, Schedule A1 (Digital reporting and record-keeping)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/schedule/A1)
- [The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/336/part/7/chapter/2/made)
- [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Create digital records](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/create-digital-records)
- [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Add or cease income sources](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/add-or-cease-income-sources)
- [Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax)
- [Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-and-when-you-need-to-use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax)
- [Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the first time](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/using-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-for-the-first-time)
- [Get ready for MTD: an agent toolkit – Planning](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-ready-for-mtd-an-agent-toolkit/planning)
- [Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-can-get-an-exemption-from-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax)
- [SALF1440 – Self Assessment: the legal framework: Exemptions: Exemptions by reference to amount of income](https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/self-assessment-legal-framework/salf1440)