Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to UK creators who are sole traders registered for Self Assessment once their qualifying income, meaning total self-employment and property income before expenses, passes a threshold. GOV.UK's page on when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax sets three stages: over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 means using it from 6 April 2026, over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026 means from 6 April 2027, and over £20,000 in 2026 to 2027 means from 6 April 2028. Those who join keep digital records, send quarterly updates through compatible software and still file a tax return.
This guide covers who must join, the exemptions, the quarterly calendar and getting software ready. Annual Self Assessment dates are a separate subject, and VAT has its own digital rules explained in our UK VAT guide for creators. Sources were checked on 1 October 2026.
The qualifying-income check
HMRC's guidance on how to work out your qualifying income defines it as total income from self-employment and property before expenses, also called turnover, taken from the tax return you submitted for the earlier year. HMRC reviews each return and writes to people over the line, but the guidance is blunt that you must still check yourself if no letter arrives.
| Tax year HMRC reads | Qualifying income over | You must use it from | Your figure and status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 to 2025 return | £50,000 | 6 April 2026, so this group should already have signed up | Write your turnover from that return and whether you are signed up |
| 2025 to 2026 return | £30,000 | 6 April 2027 | Add self-employment and property turnover once the return is filed |
| 2026 to 2027 return | £20,000 | 6 April 2028 | Estimate now from your records so the date does not surprise you |
The same guidance lists what does not count: employment income through PAYE, your share of partnership profit as an individual partner, dividends including those from your own company, the State Pension and private pensions. If you have been trading for less than 12 months, HMRC annualises a sole trader's figure where it can; its example doubles six months of income.
Stopping matters as much as starting. If you close one income source but keep another, the ceased source still counts towards qualifying income. If all your self-employment and property income stopped before 6 April 2026, the guidance says you will not need to use the service, but you should tell HMRC if your latest return does not already show it; otherwise HMRC may sign you up from the information it holds. Creators who quit content for a salaried job are the obvious case.
Creator flag: qualifying income is turnover before expenses, so the question of what your turnover is matters more than usual. Ask your accountant whether platform income goes on your return as the full amount fans paid or as your earnings after the platform's fee, and include the value of gifted products if you declare them as income, as our guide to tax on gifts for UK influencers explains. The answer can move your start date by a full year.
Exemptions creators should know about
HMRC's page on whether you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax splits them into automatic exemptions and ones you apply for. If you are exempt you still report your income and gains in a normal Self Assessment return.
- Qualifying income of £20,000 or less: automatically exempt, and the exemption is permanent unless your circumstances change.
- No National Insurance number before the start of the tax year: automatically exempt, and you cannot sign up.
- Averaging relief claimed on the SA103 pages as someone who personally creates literary or artistic works, in the 2024 to 2025 return: automatically exempt for 2026 to 2027 only. From 2027 to 2028 you join if 2025 to 2026 qualifying income is over £30,000.
- Partnerships: not yet required; HMRC will set a timeline later.
- Digital exclusion: you apply, and HMRC lists reasons such as age, health, disability or no available internet access.
- Reasons HMRC says it will not accept on their own: having filed on paper before, being unfamiliar with accounting software, having few records, or the extra time and cost of using the service.
Once you are in, the qualifying income page says you can choose to opt out if your qualifying income stays under the relevant threshold for three tax years in a row.
Quarterly update calendar
GOV.UK's guidance on how to send quarterly updates describes them as summaries, not tax returns. Each update covers the start of the tax year to the end of the period, so a later update can correct an earlier one. You send one for each self-employment business even when nothing was earned, and you can send up to 10 days early if you expect no further transactions.
| Standard update period | Calendar update period | Deadline for either | Creator task before sending |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 April to 5 July | 1 April to 30 June | 7 August | Match spring platform statements to bank deposits |
| 6 April to 5 October | 1 April to 30 September | 7 November | Log summer brand gifts and campaign fees |
| 6 April to 5 January | 1 April to 31 December | 7 February | Split calendar-year platform reports at 5 April |
| 6 April to 5 April | 1 April to 31 March | 7 May in the following tax year | Correct any earlier miscategorised items before year-end adjustments |
You choose calendar periods in your software before your first update and cannot switch for that tax year once one is sent. On penalties, the guidance says HMRC will not apply points for late quarterly updates during 2026 to 2027. After that year, each missed deadline earns a point and four points bring a £200 penalty. Volunteers get no points for late quarterly updates, though late tax returns still count. The sign-up guidance adds that from September 2026 HMRC has started signing up people who should be using the service for 2026 to 2027 and have not signed themselves up, using only the information it already holds.
That last point deserves a check even if you think you are ready. HMRC's record may be out of date: it might list a trade you have stopped, miss a new channel or use an old business address. The guidance says signing up yourself lets you make sure your income sources and circumstances are current from the start, and that if HMRC signed you up you may need to update the service or contact HMRC. Volunteers who join part-way through a year use their software to send any quarterly updates already missed.
Software readiness checklist
HMRC's page on how to choose the right software says you need commercial software that creates and stores digital records, sends quarterly updates and submits the return by 31 January after the tax year. It does not recommend products; its finder tool lists recognised ones. Work through these points before you sign up.
- Decide between software that creates records and bridging software that connects to a spreadsheet you already keep.
- Confirm the product supports every income source you have and lets you report other income, such as savings or dividends, on the return.
- Check it handles your period choice: standard, calendar or an accounting period that matches neither.
- If you are VAT registered, check whether your VAT software also works for Income Tax, as HMRC suggests.
- Plan for platform payouts that land net of fees: HMRC warns some transactions will not appear in full in a bank feed, so record the gross income and the fee separately.
- Create manual records for gifted products, because non-cash income never reaches a bank feed at all.
- Each digital record needs an amount, a date and a Self Assessment category, per HMRC's guidance on how to create digital records.
- Keep original evidence such as statements and invoices as well; HMRC says digital records do not replace it.
- If you run two distinct trades, for example photography for clients alongside your own channel, expect separate records and updates for each.
- Read the limits on free products: HMRC notes they may cap the number of transactions.
To sign up yourself, the guidance says you must be registered for Self Assessment and have submitted a return in the last two years, and you need your business name, address and trade, plus your start date if you began in the last two tax years.
What Making Tax Digital does not change
You still file a tax return for the year, now through your software, and you still pay what you owe on the usual dates. Quarterly updates give you an estimate of the bill, not a final figure. Platforms continue to report seller earnings to HMRC under separate digital platform rules, on a calendar-year basis, which is one more reason to reconcile their figures with your records every quarter; our explainer on the OnlyFans tax ID number and platform reporting covers what they send.
Your business structure matters too. Dividends from your own company sit outside qualifying income, so creators who trade through a limited company are not brought in by company profits; our sole trader vs limited company comparison sets out what changes instead.
Limits of this guide
This is general information from GOV.UK guidance as it read on 1 October 2026, not tax advice. HMRC updated its sign-up page several times during 2026 and may change thresholds, exemptions or penalties again. The guidance does not address creator-specific questions such as how a platform's fee affects turnover, how gifts should be valued, or how payouts in other currencies should be recorded, and the dates for partnerships have not been set.
If you are near a threshold, ask an accountant or chartered tax adviser to confirm your qualifying income from your filed return and to help choose software before your first quarter starts. An agent can also sign you up on your behalf, as HMRC's guidance allows.