MTD from April 2027: finding the clients who cross £30,000

The first group of sole traders and landlords joined Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in April 2026. The second, much larger group joins on 6 April 2027: everyone with qualifying income over £30,000. A third follows in April 2028, at £20,000.

The useful detail for practices is how the second group is decided. It is based on income in the 2025 to 2026 tax year, the returns your team is working on before 31 January 2027. That makes this winter the natural moment to identify who is affected.

What counts as qualifying income

Qualifying income is the total gross income from self-employment and property, before expenses. It is not profit, and it is not total income: employment income, pensions, dividends and savings don’t count towards it.

That catches people out in both directions:

• A landlord with £18,000 of rent and a sole trader business turning over £14,000 has qualifying income of £32,000, even if both make modest profits.
• A client with a large salary and a small side business can be well below the threshold.

Flag them as the returns are prepared

The cheapest way to find the next cohort is to add one check to the 2025 to 2026 return process: does gross self-employment plus property income exceed £30,000? If so, flag the client.

That leaves the February to March window, after the January peak, to talk to them about what changes and to get them set up.

What each flagged client needs before April 2027

• A conversation. Many clients still don’t know what quarterly updates mean for them. ICAEW’s October 2026 budget submission called for a review of the first year, citing low awareness among taxpayers.
• Software for digital records, and bank feeds connected where possible. Clients whose records are kept up to date through the quarter make the quarterly update a review, not a rebuild.
• The right agent authorisation, requested from your agent services account and accepted by the client online.
• An updated engagement letter if your current terms don’t cover quarterly updates.
• A records rhythm: when you will ask, what you will ask for, and how they should send it.

Then plan for four requests a year per client

Every client in the new cohort adds four records requests a year, each with a deadline and a chase. It is worth counting them. If 50 of your clients join in April 2027, that is 200 quarterly requests a year on top of what you do now, before any follow-ups.

That workload is what Records Chaser is for: it sends each client dated reminders ahead of every quarterly deadline, from your mailbox and approved by your team, and gives you one list of who’s late every Friday. For the dates and thresholds in one place, see our Making Tax Digital summary.