The £30,000 MTD rule, without the accounting fog

The short answer

If the qualifying income shown on your 2025/26 Self Assessment return is more than £30,000, HMRC says you will need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2027, assuming the regime applies to you and you are not exempt.

The published rollout has three stages:

What “qualifying income” means

HMRC generally defines qualifying income here as your total turnover from self-employment plus your individual share of property income, before expenses and tax allowances. If you have several sole trades or both trading and property income, the relevant amounts are combined for this threshold test.

For jointly owned property, only your share counts. If you are told only your share after expenses have been deducted, HMRC says it will assess that notified figure. Foreign-property treatment depends on residence, and some sources below a £1,000 trading or property allowance that were not declared on the earlier return do not require MTD digital records. Use HMRC's checker for those cases rather than assuming every receipt belongs in this small tool.

For a marketplace seller, start from the turnover figure you will use on Self Assessment. Marketplace fees paid are not a reason to substitute the net bank deposit for turnover; allowable costs are dealt with separately when profit is calculated. If you are VAT-registered and use the cash basis, HMRC says you may declare turnover including or excluding VAT—if VAT is included on the return, it counts toward qualifying income. Refunds, timing and accounting basis can also complicate the figure, so use the records behind your return or ask a qualified professional when unsure.

Four marketplace-seller examples

1. One Etsy sole trade, £36,000 turnover

If that figure is on the 2025/26 return, it is more than £30,000, so the published start date is 6 April 2027. Use HMRC's checker for the final decision.

2. Marketplace sales plus property income

Neither source is over £30,000 alone, but the combined figure is. If the amounts belong to the 2025/26 return, the published start date is 6 April 2027.

3. Exactly £30,000

This does not cross the “more than £30,000” test. Do not assume that means MTD never applies: the next phase tests whether 2026/27 qualifying income is more than £20,000.

4. A limited company sells £80,000, but you have no separate sole trade or property income

The company's turnover is not personal self-employment income for this MTD for Income Tax test. Do not put company turnover into the QuarterReady checker. Different digital-tax and filing duties may apply to the company, including MTD for VAT where relevant.

What not to add to the threshold box

This checker is limited to the qualifying sources HMRC describes for MTD for Income Tax. Do not add:

• PAYE employment salary;
• dividends or savings interest;
• a limited company's turnover;
• your share of profit as an individual partner—this does not count toward qualifying income or quarterly updates, although it remains reportable on the tax return;
• the same sale twice because it appears in both a platform report and your bank.

If the annual seller report is your starting point, read why a platform report, payout and MTD qualifying-income figure can differ before copying a total into the checker.

Other income can still matter to your tax return. “Not part of this threshold total” does not mean “not taxable” or “do not report it”. Personal self-employment or property income that a partnership tells you about can count, even though a partner's profit share does not. Partnerships themselves are currently exempt and have a later timetable.

What to do next

1. Use your records or submitted return to find the self-employment turnover and property income figures for the relevant tax year.
2. Run the QuarterReady indicative checker.
3. Confirm the result with HMRC's official guidance and checker.
4. If you are in scope, compare compatible software before signing up and decide who will keep records and send updates.