MTD guides, in plain English
Everything you need to understand Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — who's in, the deadlines, the penalties, and how to stay compliant with a spreadsheet. Every claim sourced to gov.uk.
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Everything you need to understand Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — who's in, the deadlines, the penalties, and how to stay compliant with a spreadsheet. Every claim sourced to gov.uk.
MTD for Income Tax is now law for 864,000 sole traders and landlords. Who's in, the quarterly deadlines, digital records rules, penalties — explained without jargon.
The first-ever Making Tax Digital quarterly deadline is 7 August 2026. What's in a quarterly update, who must send one, the penalty rules, and a checklist to be ready.
Sole trader, landlord, side hustle, CIS, Airbnb, jointly owned property, under the threshold — find out exactly if and when MTD for Income Tax applies to you.
HMRC explicitly allows spreadsheets under Making Tax Digital, with one condition: a digital link via bridging software. How it works, what's banned, and the cheapest setup.
How Making Tax Digital late-submission penalties work: one point per late quarterly update, £200 at four points, what the 12-month grace period does and doesn't cover.
Free MTD options (AbraTax, Clear Books Free) vs £30/yr bridging tools vs £10–30/mo accounting software — honest comparison for sole traders and landlords.
Making Tax Digital for landlords: the £50k/£30k/£20k gross rent thresholds, HMRC's property categories, mortgage interest treatment, joint lets, and quarterly deadlines.
What goes in an MTD quarterly update, what doesn't, the cumulative rule, nil updates, corrections — a step-by-step walkthrough for your first submission.
Three spreadsheet bridging tools for MTD Income Tax compared on price, workflow, Google Sheets support and ease — plus who should pick each.
Side hustle plus salary? Freelance plus rental? How Making Tax Digital's combined-income test catches mixed earners, and the two-updates-per-quarter rule explained.
What counts as a digital record under Making Tax Digital — required fields, the categories, receipts, timing, corrections, and the myths about what you must keep.
Get the free 2-Minute MTD Checker — your exact start date, your first deadline, and the 3 things to do this week.
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