Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is no longer a future project. The first wave started on 6 April 2026, and two more are on the way. For an accountancy practice, the work is less about the rules themselves and more about getting hundreds of sole traders and landlords signed up, set up with software and sending quarterly updates on time.
This guide sets out the confirmed timeline from HMRC, what MTD for VAT already requires, and a practical plan for preparing your clients, including how your website and onboarding process can take a lot of the strain.
We wrote an earlier piece on what the MTD waves mean for your website. This one focuses on the onboarding side: what to ask clients, in what order, and how to automate the repetitive parts.
The MTD for Income Tax timeline
HMRC's guidance on who needs to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax says you need to use it if you are a sole trader or landlord registered for Self Assessment, you get income from self-employment or property, and your qualifying income is over the threshold for the relevant tax year.
The thresholds and start dates are:
| Qualifying income over | Based on tax year | Must use MTD from | | --- | --- | --- | | 50,000 pounds | 2024 to 2025 | 6 April 2026 | | 30,000 pounds | 2025 to 2026 | 6 April 2027 | | 20,000 pounds | 2026 to 2027 | 6 April 2028 |
HMRC also says partnerships will need to use MTD for Income Tax in future, with a timeline to be set out later.
How HMRC decides who is in
HMRC reviews each Self Assessment return and checks qualifying income. If it is over the threshold, HMRC writes to the taxpayer to confirm they need to start by the following tax year. HMRC is clear that if someone does not receive a letter, it is still their responsibility to check and sign up.
That point matters for practices. Clients will ask "I haven't had a letter, so I'm fine?" The honest answer is no, and your website and onboarding emails should say so plainly.
Signing up
To sign up, HMRC says a person must be registered for Self Assessment and have submitted a tax return in the last 2 years. Agents can sign up clients, and HMRC's eligibility tool can be used on behalf of someone else. Some people are exempt, for example if they are digitally excluded, and HMRC keeps a separate page on exemptions.
Quarterly updates: the new rhythm
Under MTD for Income Tax, compatible software adds up digital records into totals every 3 months. HMRC's quarterly updates guidance describes these as summaries, not tax returns, and says each update is cumulative from the start of the tax year.
The deadlines are the same whichever update period a client uses:
| Standard update period | Deadline | | --- | --- | | 6 April to 5 July | 7 August | | 6 April to 5 October | 7 November | | 6 April to 5 January | 7 February | | 6 April to 5 April | 7 May (following tax year) |
Clients whose accounting period runs 1 April to 31 March can choose calendar update periods instead, but this must be selected in the software before the first update is sent. Once an update has gone in, the period cannot be changed for the rest of the tax year.
Penalties
HMRC's MTD penalties guidance says there are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline in the 2026 to 2027 tax year. Clients still need to keep digital records and send quarterly updates before they can submit their tax return. For later years, late submissions work on a points system, and reaching the threshold brings a 200 pounds penalty.
This first year is a window. Use it to get clients into good habits before penalties apply.
MTD for VAT: where things stand
MTD for VAT is already business as usual. HMRC's VAT guidance now states that all VAT-registered businesses should be signed up for Making Tax Digital for VAT and no longer need to sign up themselves. Most businesses must keep digital VAT records and use software to submit VAT returns, as HMRC's Annual Accounting Scheme page notes.
For practices, the lesson from MTD for VAT is useful: the businesses that struggled were usually the ones who left software choice and record keeping until the last minute. MTD for Income Tax affects a much less digital group of clients, so earlier contact pays off.
What practices should do now
1. Segment your client list
Pull your Self Assessment clients and sort them by qualifying income across the relevant years:
- over 50,000 pounds in 2024 to 2025: should already be using MTD
- over 30,000 pounds in 2025 to 2026: starting 6 April 2027
- over 20,000 pounds in 2026 to 2027: likely starting 6 April 2028
Flag landlords with joint property and clients with several businesses, as each self-employment and property business needs its own quarterly update.
2. Decide your service model
Some clients will want to keep records themselves in software you support. Others will want you to do the bookkeeping and send updates for them. Be clear about which you offer, what each involves, and how you will price it. Write this down before you start the client conversations.
3. Choose your supported software
HMRC cannot advise on specific software products. You can. Pick a small number of compatible products you know well, such as Xero or QuickBooks, so your team is not supporting a dozen different systems.
4. Write a standard onboarding sequence
Every client entering MTD needs roughly the same steps: confirm they are in scope, agree who does what, set up software, connect bank feeds, choose update periods, sign up with HMRC, and agree how and when records reach you. Turn that into a checklist and a sequence of emails.
5. Plan the quarterly calendar
Four deadlines a year per client is a big change from one Self Assessment deadline. Map the workload across 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and plan reminders well ahead of each one.
How your website should prepare clients
Your website is where worried sole traders and landlords will look first. A good MTD section can cut down repeat phone calls and bring in new clients searching for help.
An MTD for Income Tax page
Create a dedicated page, not a paragraph buried in your Self Assessment page. Cover:
- who is affected, with the three thresholds and dates
- that a letter from HMRC is not required for the rules to apply
- what quarterly updates are, in plain English
- what software you support
- how your service works, and what the client does versus what you do
- a clear way to book a call or start onboarding
Link every rule to the HMRC page it comes from. It shows you know your stuff, and it helps search engines and AI tools trust the page. Our SEO service covers building pages like this so they rank for the searches people actually make, such as "MTD accountant near me" or "do landlords need MTD".
An "Are you affected?" checker or form
A short form that asks about income type and approximate income, then explains the likely start date, is a useful lead source. Keep it simple, point to HMRC's own tool for confirmation, and make it clear the result is a guide only.
Onboarding content clients can find themselves
Short guides on choosing update periods, keeping digital records and what happens at each deadline can live on your site and be linked from emails. You write them once and use them hundreds of times.
Automating the repetitive parts
MTD for Income Tax multiplies the number of client touchpoints. That is where automation earns its keep. Examples that work well for practices:
- Scope check emails: a sequence that asks each client to confirm their income type and business count.
- Software setup reminders: nudges until the client confirms their software is set up and bank feeds are connected.
- Quarterly record chasers: reminders before each deadline, adjusted to the client's period and how responsive they usually are.
- Status tracking: a simple view of who is signed up, who is set up and who has sent each update.
Everything can stay under your control, with nothing sent to a client that your team has not approved. Our AI automation page explains how we approach this, and our work page describes a document chasing agent we built for a client practice.
A simple MTD onboarding checklist
- Confirm the client is in scope and the start date.
- Check for exemptions.
- Agree the service model and fee in writing.
- Choose and set up software.
- Choose standard or calendar update periods before the first update.
- Sign up the client with HMRC.
- Agree the record-sharing routine.
- Add the four deadlines to your practice calendar.
- Schedule reminders.
Ready to prepare your clients?
If you want an MTD page that ranks, a sign-up form that brings in the right clients, or automated reminders that save your team hours of chasing, talk to us. We build websites, SEO and automation only for UK accountancy practices.