Last checked: 9 September 2026 · Source: GOV.UK
If your qualifying income from self-employment and property was over £30,000 in the 2025/26 tax year, you're required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2027. This threshold was confirmed at Autumn Budget 2024, alongside the £50,000 threshold that started a year earlier.
This is a separate, later cohort from the £50,000 group. If you were already mandated in from April 2026 because your 2024/25 income was over £50,000, this page doesn't add anything new for you. You're already in, and the £30,000 test doesn't apply twice.
| Your 2025/26 qualifying income | What happens |
|---|---|
| Over £50,000 | Already mandated from April 2026. This cohort doesn't change your position |
| £30,000 to £50,000 | Mandated into MTD from 6 April 2027 |
| £20,000 to £30,000 | Not mandated in 2027. Tested again for the 2028 cohort |
If you join from April 2027, your first quarterly update covers 6 April to 5 July 2027 and is due 7 August 2027. Your first Final Declaration, for the 2027/28 tax year, is due 31 January 2029.
HMRC's confirmed no-penalty-points arrangement for late quarterly updates applies specifically to the 2026/27 tax year. Whether an equivalent applies to your first year, 2027/28, isn't something we've been able to confirm on a live GOV.UK page. Treat it as unconfirmed, and check GOV.UK directly closer to April 2027 rather than assuming it repeats. See our page on the 2026/27 soft landing for exactly what that first-year arrangement does and doesn't cover.
Both this threshold's deadlines and the £50,000 cohort's are already in the calendar, 2026 through 2029.
I was already in from 2026. Does the £30,000 threshold change anything for me?
No. Once you're mandated in, you stay in. Lower thresholds bring in new people; they don't remove obligations from people already inside MTD.
What if my income drops below £30,000 after I've joined?
We haven't found a clear GOV.UK statement confirming you can exit MTD once mandated in, purely because income later falls. Don't assume you can stop filing without checking your specific position with HMRC or an accountant first.