CIS Subcontractor Records and Making Tax Digital: What Tradespeople Need to Know
If you work under the Construction Industry Scheme — as an electrician, plasterer, plumber, roofer, or any other trade paid by a contractor — it’s tempting to assume CIS and MTD are two separate systems that don’t overlap. They’re not unrelated. Good CIS subcontractor records are exactly what Making Tax Digital expects from you, because underneath the CIS deductions, you’re still a self-employed sole trader reporting your own income and expenses to HMRC. This guide explains how the two systems sit alongside each other and what you need to keep track of.
Read MoreDo You Need an Accountant for Making Tax Digital?
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax changes how UK sole traders and landlords keep records and report to HMRC – but it doesn’t answer the more personal question of whether you should handle it yourself or bring in an accountant. The honest answer depends on your affairs, not your software. This guide covers what actually changes under quarterly updates, what an accountant does that software can’t, the DIY and hybrid routes people are choosing, and how to work out which fits you.
Read MoreMaking Tax Digital Exemptions: Who's Out of Scope for MTD
Crossing an income threshold isn’t the only thing that determines whether you file Making Tax Digital quarterly updates. Some people are simply out of scope for now; others qualify for a formal exemption even though their income would otherwise mandate them. The two aren’t the same thing, and the process for one of them — the digital exclusion exemption — is specific enough that it’s worth getting right. Here’s how MTD exemptions actually work, and exactly how to apply.
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Making Tax Digital for the Self-Employed: The Complete 2026–27 Guide
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is no longer coming — it’s here, and it’s running. Since 6 April 2026, UK sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 have been legally required to keep digital records and send HMRC quarterly updates. The first-ever mandatory update fell due on 7 August 2026, and HMRC’s own figures show how bumpy the start has been: of roughly 864,000 people mandated, only about 436,000 filed that first update. If you’re self-employed in the UK, this guide covers where the rules stand right now — thresholds, deadlines, penalties, software, and what to actually do — in plain English.
Read MoreMissed an MTD Quarterly Update? Here's What Actually Happens
On 12 August 2026, HMRC published the first real numbers on how the April 2026 wave of Making Tax Digital was actually going: 864,000 sole traders and landlords were mandated in from that date, and just 436,000 had filed their first quarterly update by the 7 August deadline. That leaves roughly 428,000 people who didn’t — too large a number to be a handful of stragglers. If you’re one of them, here’s the honest, unpanicked version of what happens next.
Read MoreMTD Client Onboarding: A Checklist for Accountants (2026–27 and 2027–28 Waves)
The first wave of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is no longer a future deadline — it’s live, and the early numbers show how many clients are behind. This is a practical MTD client onboarding checklist for getting the rest of your book ready for the April 2027 and April 2028 waves before the same scramble repeats itself.
Read MoreMTD for Income Tax from April 2027: The £30,000 Threshold
If your self-employment or rental income was over £30,000 in the 2025–26 tax year, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax becomes mandatory for you from 6 April 2027. This is the second wave of the MTD rollout, following the £50,000 group that joined from April 2026, and it draws in a considerably larger number of sole traders and landlords. Here’s exactly who’s affected, why the current tax year matters more than most people realise, and what’s worth setting up now rather than in March 2027.
Read MoreMTD for Income Tax from April 2028: The £20,000 Threshold
From 6 April 2028, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax extends to sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £20,000 in the 2026–27 tax year. It’s the third and, so far, final wave of the rollout HMRC has confirmed — and because £20,000 is a relatively low bar for combined self-employment and property income, it brings in a large slice of the UK’s smaller sole traders, part-time landlords, and side hustlers. Here’s the full phase-in timeline, who the £20,000 threshold catches, and what’s actually confirmed about where MTD goes from here.
Read MoreMTD for Landlords: How Making Tax Digital Applies to Rental Income
If you rent out property in the UK, it’s easy to assume Making Tax Digital is a sole trader problem that doesn’t apply to you. It isn’t. MTD for landlords runs on exactly the same rules as MTD for the self-employed — your rental income counts toward the same thresholds, on the same start dates, with the same quarterly updates. This guide covers how property income is assessed, what happens if you also have a job or a business on the side, and what records you’ll actually need to keep once you’re in scope.
Read MoreMTD Penalty Points Explained: How the System Works
HMRC’s MTD penalty points system works a bit like a driving licence: occasional lateness costs you nothing, but a pattern of it builds up to a real financial penalty. It replaced the old fixed late-filing fines for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax submissions, and it’s different enough from what most people are used to from Self Assessment that it’s worth understanding properly before you’re relying on it.
Read MoreMTD Quarterly Update Deadlines: The Full 2026–27 Calendar
If you’re mandated into Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from April 2026, your reporting calendar has changed completely. Instead of one Self Assessment deadline a year, you now have four MTD deadlines for quarterly updates, plus the familiar 31 January final declaration. Get the shape of these deadlines wrong — especially the fact that each update is cumulative rather than a fresh quarter — and you’ll either panic over nothing or catch yourself out for real. Here’s the full 2026–27 calendar and how it actually works.
Read MoreMTD Software vs Receipt Scanning Apps: What's the Difference?
Search “MTD software” and you’ll get filing platforms, receipt-scanning apps, and bridging tools all mixed into the same results page – as if they do the same job. They don’t. Filing software submits your quarterly updates to HMRC. A receipt-scanning app captures and organises your records but never touches HMRC directly. Mixing the two up is one of the most common points of confusion for anyone getting ready for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
Read MoreQualifying Income for MTD Explained: How It's Calculated
“Qualifying income” is the single figure that decides whether — and when — you have to join Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Get it wrong and you might miss your sign-up window, or assume you’re in scope when you’re comfortably not. It’s a more specific number than most people expect, and it doesn’t work the way your annual tax bill does. Here’s exactly how it’s calculated.
Read MoreSole Trader Plus Landlord? How Combined Income Affects MTD
Plenty of people run a small trade and let out a property on the side, each one comfortably under any MTD threshold on its own — and assume that means they’re fine. Making Tax Digital doesn’t test your income streams separately. HMRC adds your self-employment and property income together, and it’s that combined figure that decides whether, and when, you’re mandated. Here’s exactly how that works, with real numbers.
Read MoreUber and Deliveroo Driver Taxes in the UK: How MTD Applies to Gig Drivers
Driving for Uber, Bolt, Deliveroo, or Just Eat doesn’t feel like running a business in the way a shop or a consultancy does — there’s no office, no invoices, just the app telling you where to go next. But HMRC sees it differently: if you’re picking up fares or drops as a self-employed driver or courier, you’re a sole trader, and Uber driver taxes in the UK now come with the same Making Tax Digital obligations as any other self-employed income once you’re over the threshold. Here’s how it applies.
Read MoreWhat Actually Goes in an MTD Quarterly Update
A lot of sole traders picture Making Tax Digital as uploading a folder of receipts to HMRC every three months — every coffee, every fuel stop, every invoice, scanned and sent off for inspection. That’s not what a quarterly update is, and the actual answer is a lot less invasive than most people assume.
Read MoreWhat Digital Records Do You Actually Need for Making Tax Digital?
Ask most self-employed people what Making Tax Digital actually involves, and you’ll usually hear: “I’ll have to upload every receipt to HMRC.” It’s an understandable guess – the name alone sounds like scanning a shoebox of petrol receipts straight into a government portal. It doesn’t. What MTD for Income Tax actually requires is that you keep digital records of your income and expenses, and use them to send HMRC a running total each quarter. The receipts themselves stay with you. Knowing what counts as a digital record – and what doesn’t – is the difference between MTD feeling like an audit and feeling like slightly more organised bookkeeping.
Read MoreYour First MTD Year: A Record-Keeping Checklist for 2026–27
If you’re a UK sole trader or landlord newly mandated into Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from April 2026, the first year is the one that sets the pattern for every year after it. This MTD checklist covers everything in order — from confirming you’re actually in scope through to using this year’s built-in leniency properly instead of wasting it.
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