Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is the biggest shift in self-employed tax reporting in decades. It doesn't happen automatically – you need to take active steps to stay compliant.
Here is your 5-step roadmap to getting tax-confident.
Step 1: Check your qualifying income
Your deadline depends on your total gross income (before expenses) from self-employment or property.
Over £50k: This came into effect in April 2026. If you think you’ve missed this deadline, make sure to check HMRC about what that could mean.
Over £30k: Your deadline is April 2027.
Over £20k: Your deadline is April 2028. Check your 2024/25 tax return to see which bracket you fall into.
Step 2: Choose MTD-compatible software
HMRC will no longer accept manual spreadsheets alone. You need software that can store digital records and communicate directly with HMRC.
Step 3: Separate your finances
MTD requires a clear digital audit trail. The easiest way to manage this is with a dedicated business bank account. Keeping personal and business spending separate means you won’t have to filter through your grocery receipts when filing your quarterly updates.
Step 4: Sync your accounts & sign up
Once you have your software, you need to link it to your bank and officially register for MTD for Income Tax via the HMRC website. If you use Mettle and FreeAgent, your transactions flow in near-real-time, making categorisation simple.
Step 5: File your first quarterly update
Under MTD, the annual scramble is replaced by four smaller digital updates.
Categorise transactions (travel, software, sales).
Attach digital receipts to entries.
Submit directly through your software. HMRC will then provide an estimated tax bill so you can budget throughout the year.
Ready to start checking off your list?
Read the full 5-step checklist on the Mettle blog.
