Had a letter from HMRC about Making Tax Digital?

Verified against HMRC primary sources on 29 September 2026. Sources checked daily; last check 29 September 2026.

HMRC writes to sole traders and landlords as Making Tax Digital reaches them. If yours has just landed and you haven't started yet, HMRC has set out the steps to take from here. It now signs people up itself, in stages. Starting is quicker than it looks.

Which letter is it?

HMRC's guidance describes these letters about Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Your letter's own wording is the final word on which one you have.

• A letter confirming you need to start. HMRC checks your tax return every year: "HMRC will review your Self Assessment tax return and check your qualifying income each tax year." If you're over the line, HMRC says it "will write to you, confirming that you need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax by the start of the following tax year."
• A letter confirming HMRC has signed you up. "From September 2026, HMRC will start to sign up anyone who needs to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the 2026 to 2027 tax year and has not signed themselves up." HMRC says this is "because our records show your qualifying income was over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year". It then confirms it: "You may receive this confirmation letter in your HMRC online services or by post depending on your circumstances."
• A letter confirming you won't need to use it. If all your self-employment and property income has stopped and you tell HMRC, it says "we'll update your records and send you a letter confirming you will not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax."

What the dates mean

Every letter comes back to one test: your qualifying income. HMRC defines it as "your total income from self-employment and property. This is the amount before expenses (also known as turnover)". So it's what came in, before costs, from your trade and any rental income added together.

The tax year HMRC checks sets the date you start:

Already in? Your HMRC online account shows "any overdue quarterly updates" and "upcoming quarterly updates deadlines", so the dates that apply to you are in one place.

How to check it applies to you

• The four-question checker. Our free checker applies HMRC's three published thresholds and gives you your start date: April 2026, 2027, 2028, or not yet.
• Your HMRC online account. Sign in and look for the message. HMRC says: "Once you're signed into your account, a message will appear on screen confirming you are already signed up." And: "If you do not see a message, you are not signed up yet."
• No letter? It can still apply. HMRC is clear: "If you did not receive a letter, it is still your responsibility to check if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax".

Think it doesn't apply? HMRC's route is to contact Self Assessment: general enquiries if it has signed you up and you don't think you need to use Making Tax Digital. It also says that "based on your income sources and circumstances, you could be eligible for an exemption". Who can get an exemption.

What to do next

For anyone HMRC has signed up, its guidance sets out five steps:

1. Sign in to HMRC online services with the sign in details you use for Self Assessment, and select "Making Tax Digital for Income Tax".
2. Check the income details HMRC holds. They're based on your 2024 to 2025 tax return (and your 2025 to 2026 return, if you sent it before HMRC signed you up). Add any new self-employment or property income, and tell HMRC about any that has stopped.
3. Get software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. HMRC's words: "HMRC does not provide software", and "there are both free and paid for options available".
4. Catch up. Create digital records from the start of the tax year, then send your overdue quarterly update. For this tax year that means receipts and income from 6 April 2026: months, not years.
5. Keep going. Keep adding records as they happen, and send each quarterly update from your software.

Not signed up yet? HMRC says "there is still time to sign yourself up or ask your agent to do it on your behalf". How signing up works.

Starting late this year

HMRC has built a soft landing into the first year: "You'll not get penalty points for missing a quarterly update deadline for the 2026 to 2027 tax year." The rest still stands. You send your final quarterly update before your tax return, and "for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, penalty points will still apply for missing the tax return deadline."

Paying doesn't change either: "You'll still need to pay your full tax bill by 31 January following the end of the tax year."

Quick answers

Related guides: Does MTD apply to you? · How to sign up for MTD · The threshold: turnover, not profit · Your first quarterly update · Making Tax Digital, explained

Sources: gov.uk, check what to do if HMRC has signed you up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 11 September 2026); sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 24 August 2026); find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 26 March 2026). Checked on 29 September 2026.