How to sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

Sign-up rules on this page were checked against GOV.UK on 10th October 2026. MTD Magpie provides general information and comparison tools. It does not provide tax, accounting or financial advice.

Who needs to sign up?

You need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6th April 2026 if your total annual qualifying income from self-employment and property is more than £50,000. Qualifying income is the total before expenses, also known as turnover, based on the tax return submitted in the previous year. Some people may be exempt. Check HMRC's exemption guidance before signing up. Our page Do I need Making Tax Digital for Income Tax? explains the thresholds for 2026, 2027 and 2028.

You can sign up voluntarily before you are required to use Making Tax Digital. Whether you are required to sign up or are volunteering, you must be registered for Self Assessment and have submitted a tax return in the last two years. You can volunteer for the current tax year or the next one.

What you need before you start

To use HMRC's sign-up service, you will need:

• the same Self Assessment user ID and password that you received when you registered;
• your business start date, or the date you started receiving property income, if this was within the last two tax years;
• the tax year in which you will start using Making Tax Digital;
• details of every self-employment and property-income source, including sources that have stopped since your last tax return.

If you are a sole trader, you will also need:

• the business name you use on your invoices;
• your business address;
• the nature of your business or trade.

If you have more than one self-employment income source or property business, check each source in HMRC's online service and add any that are missing.

HMRC may ask you to prove your identity. This may involve using a mobile app to match a photograph of your face to your passport or driving licence, or answering questions using information HMRC already holds about you.

Before signing up, make sure you have compatible software and check with the provider that it meets your needs.

How to sign up

You can sign yourself up through HMRC's online service. If you use an agent, the agent can sign you up through HMRC's separate agent process.

If all your self-employment and property-income sources have stopped since you submitted your last Self Assessment tax return, tell HMRC before the start of the next tax year. If you do not, HMRC says you will still need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

MTD Magpie is not part of HMRC and cannot sign you up. The official sign-up service is operated by HMRC on GOV.UK.

Go to HMRC's Making Tax Digital sign-up service

Timing

HMRC says that, from September 2026, it will start signing up people who need to use Making Tax Digital for the 2026 to 2027 tax year and have not signed themselves up. If HMRC has not signed you up, there is still time to sign yourself up or ask your agent to do it. If HMRC has already signed you up, read HMRC has signed me up for Making Tax Digital. What now?

If you volunteer for the current tax year, you will need compatible software to send any quarterly updates that you have missed for the year so far.

After you have signed up

After signing up, you need compatible software. HMRC's Making Tax Digital guidance explains how to create digital records, send quarterly updates and submit your tax return. See our guide to quarterly update deadlines for the dates.

You still need to submit a Self Assessment tax return for the tax year before you start using Making Tax Digital.

HMRC's sign-up service does not ask about your other sources of income and gains. Once you are using Making Tax Digital, add those items in your compatible software before submitting your tax return.

Penalties

If you are required to use Making Tax Digital from 6th April 2026, HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates during the 2026 to 2027 tax year. Penalties can still apply to a late tax return or to tax paid after the due date.

If you volunteer, different penalty rules apply. HMRC says it will contact you after you sign up to confirm when you become liable to those penalties.

Choosing software

Signing up tells HMRC that you will use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. You then need compatible software for the digital records, quarterly updates and tax-return process required by HMRC. Always check with the provider that the software supports your income sources and meets your needs. MTD Magpie's free finder compares the routes we have checked, including free options and software that works with a spreadsheet.

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Sources and checking

Sign-up information was checked against HMRC's "Sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax" guidance on 10th October 2026. HMRC last updated that page on 24th August 2026.